i 







PRESKNTlil) in' 



THE ORIGINAL IDENTITY OF THE YORK 
AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 



A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 

BY 

MARIE CAROLINE LYLE 

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 
DEGREE OP DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



1917 



.^ 






Researcn PuDlications of the University of Minnesota 
Vol. VIII No. 3 June 1919 



Studies in Language and Literature 
Number 6 



THE ORIGINAL IDENTITY OF THE 

YORK AND TOWNELEY 

CYCLES 

BY 

MARIE C. LYLE, PLD. 



7^3 / 




Published hy the University of J^innesota 
yylinnea^oJis, Minnesota 



Copyright 1919 

BY THE 

University of Minnesota 

am 

UniVBrsity 
itil 22 10W 




PREFACE 

The theory of the formation of cycles of mystery plays held by earlier 
students of the subject, by even so great a scholar as Ten Brink, was that 
they were written by various individual authors at various places and were 
collected into groups much as Elizabethan or other plays are collected. 
Each play, it was believed, had its own author, place, and date of compo- 
sition, which modern investigation might possibly discover. The wide 
variety of style, period, and even of dialect, exhibited within a single cycle, 
to say nothing of the many indications of the work of a single author, was 
regarded as a sufficient basis for such a conception and historians of liter- 
ature have never rid themselves entirely of a theory of individual author- 
ship for mystery plays. 

The particular forms in which the mystery plays come down to us are 
not the work of single authors, but of redactors, revisers, and mere tinkerers, 
showing the results of many changes and modifications of the work of 
older and simpler originals. Plays on the same subject present the variety 
of treatment that different versions of the same popular ballad present, 
and the problem of determining the original form is not different in the 
one case from what it is in the other. 

In the thesis which follows, I endeavor to explain the problem presented 
by the tangled series of agreements and differences between two of the 
more important documents in early English literature. From various 
evidences in the forms preserved and from the scanty historical records 
of the gilds responsible for the acting of the plays, I attempt to discover 
the relationship between the two great cycles of Yorkshire plays, and 
arrive at the conclusion that, at an earlier period, the York cycle and the 
Towneley cycle were, as cycles, one and the same. It is, thus, at variance 
with the current theory of the borrowing of individual plays from the one 
cycle and the incorporation of them into the other. If my thesis finds 
general acceptance, we shall hear less of plays "borrowed" in such odd and 
unaccountable groups from the York cycle by the Towneley cycle, and 
in the study of other cycles critics may apply the same theory of continuous 
revision of individual plays, due to craft control or to other reasons. In 
this connection, the recent article published in Modern Philology (January, 
1918) by Mrs. Frank points the way. This article appeared after the 
presentation of my thesis to the Faculty of the University of Minnesota 
(June, 1917), but in my revision of it for publication I have availed myself 
of certain evidence submitted by her. 

The thesis was undertaken and written under the direction of Professor 
Hardin Craig. It has since, in his absence, been revised for publication 
under the direction of Professor Carleton Brown. Both of them have 



iv PRE FA CE 

shown the most generous spirit of helpfulness, interesting themselves in 
the detail as well as the general outlines of the work; and I welcome this 
opportimity to make public and grateful acknowledgment of my indebted- 
ness to both of them, and especially to Professor Craig, without whose 
assistance and encouragement the work would never have been undertaken. 

Marie C. Lyle 



CONTENTS 

Pages 

Introduction 1-3 

Chapter I. The influence of the Northern Passion: a relationship in the 

vernacular 4-29 

Chapter II. The influence of the Gospel of Nicodemus 30-46 

The Northern Septenar revision 30-45 

The old theory of a York parent cycle untenable 45-46 

Separation of the York and Towneley cycles 46 

Chapter III. The interrelation of the York and Towneley metres 47-51 

Chapter IV. The situation in the individual plays 52-101 

First group of plays 53-54 

The Departure of the Israelites from Egypt 53 

Christ with the Doctors in the Temple 53 

Christ Led Up to Calvary 53 

The Harrowing of Hell 53 

The Resurrection 53 

The Judgment Day 53 

Second group of plays 54-86 

Joseph's Trouble about Mary 54 

The Magi 56 

The Flight into Egypt 60 

Massacre of the Innocents 63 

The Incredulity of Thomas 65 

The Creation Group 68 

Prophetic Prologue to the Annunciation 71 

The Shepherds 73 

John the Baptist 74 

Lazarus 75 

The Conspiracy, including the Conspiracy Proper, the Last Supper, 

the Agony and Betrayal 77 

The Crucifixion and Burial 83 

The Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene 84 

The Peregrini 85 

Third group of plays 87-93 

Noah and the Flood 87 

The Annunciation 89 

The Visit to Elizabeth 90 

The Examination before Caiaphas 90 

The Ascension 92 

Fourth group of plays 93-98 

Cain and Abel 93 

Abraham and Isaac 96 

The Scourging or Condemnation 97 

Fifth group of plays 98 

Sixth group of plays 98-100 

Conclusion 100 

Development of the Towneley cycle 100-101 

Chapter V. The probable date of separation 102-8 

Bibliography 109-113 



THE ORIGINAL IDENTITY OF THE YORK 
AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 

INTRODUCTION 

The extent and the nature of the relationship between the York and 
Towneley cycles have been the subject of repeated investigation. Miss 
Lucy Toulmin Smith, the editor of the York cycle, ^ called attention to 
five Towneley plays which, except for slight additions, gaps, or modifica- 
tions, agree verbally with York plays. Further parallels between the 
texts of the two cycles were soon discovered. An identical stanza spoken 
by the Angel in York XVII (strophe 27) and Towneley XIV (strophe 100) 
was observed by Joseph Hall.- Also, Dr. Herttrich^ noted that the greater 
part of the York play, Christ Led Up to Calvary (XXXIV), was present in 
Towneley (XXII), and that the Flight into Egypt (Y PI. XVIII and T 
PI. XV) contained certain similarities in phraseology. In endeavoring to 
account for the presence of identical plays, or portions of plays, in the two 
cycles, each of these scholars proposed a different theory: (1) according 
to Miss Smith, Towneley borrowed the plays from York;'* (2) Hall pre- 
ferred to believe that York borrowed the plays from Towneley ;^ (3) Hert- 
trich argued that the plays in qtiestion were derived from a common source.^ 

The problem of the relationship between the two cycles was further 
complicated by Professor Hohlfeld's discovery of the presence of slighter 
similarities in eight other plays.'' Discarding as insufficient the evidence 
produced for the theory of a common source, and regarding the borrowing 
on the part of York as unlikely, he concluded that the Towneley author 
must have been familiar with the York plays, and that he borrowed certain 
plays outright, constructed others from a memory of York plays, and 
wrote still others independently of any York influence. Those plays 
which he regarded as imitations are: the Annunciation, the Offering of the 

1 Lucy Toulmin Smith, The York Mystery Plays (1885). The plays noted by Miss Smith were 
York XI, XX, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XLVIII and Towneley VIII. XVIII, XXV, XXVI. XXX (part). 

-Joseph Hall, Eng. Stud. (1886) 9:448. In the play of the Resurrection, one of the identical plays, 
he notes that the similarity begins earlier than Miss Smith (op. cit. 397) had noticed. 

3 O. Herttrich, Sludien zu den York Plays (1886) 3-6. 

* Miss Smith {op. cit. intro. xlvi), accepting the theory of the Surtees Society editor of the Towneley 
Mysteries (pref. x) that the Towneley cycle was a collection of plays drawn from different sources, sug- 
gested that the plays in question were borrowed from York by Towneley. 

5 Mr. Hall (op. cit. 449), accepting Skeat's dictum {Joseph of Arimalhea, pref. x) that "the law of 
progress in alliterative poetry is from lines cast in a loose mould to lines cast in a strict one," concluded 
that the York plays in their present shape are later than the corresponding Towneley texts. 

^ Herttrich, op. cit. On the basis of a detailed comparison of the identical plays, Dr. Herttrich 
concluded that the grammar of the insertions, omissions, and variations was such that neither cycle could 
have borrowed from the other, but that each was independently based upon a common original, of which 
perhaps the York version, with its greater metrical regularity and fulness in detail, was nearer the original. 

' Hohlfeld. Die altenglischen Kollektivmysterien Anglia 11:219 fif. 



2 MARIE C. LYLE 

Magi, the Flight into Egypt, Herod the Great, the Conspiracy, the Buffeting, 
the Scourging, and the Crucifixion.^ In the Prologue to the Annunciation, 
Professor Davidson^ found a closer resemblance than that pointed out by 
Professor Hohlfeld. For this play, as well as for the Magi and the Flight 
into Egypt, Professor Gayley^° considered the theory of imitation probable. 
Such plays as Abraham and Isaac, John the Baptist, and the Peregrini, he 
believed, were based upon "early alternatives of York plays, later 
discarded." 

The probability that later independent revisions of certain plays took 
place in each cycle after the period of contact has been suggested in 
different studies. Professor Davidson, having established by means of 
rhyme scheme tests a common authorship for the Northern Septenar 
strophes of the Towneley Conspiracio and the Northern Septenar plays of 
the York cycle, concluded that the Towneley play had been borrowed 
from York and that the later modification of the same strophe in the cor- 
responding York play was an indication of a later revision based upon the 
play now extant in the Towneley cycle. ^^ Mr. Pollard^- hazarded a 
similar guess for the plays of the Peregrini and the Siispencio lude, two 
plays which occur in another York metre, the "Burns" measure^^ of the 
Resurrection. According to this assumption, the York plays represent 
revisions of the Towneley plays just mentioned. The minor changes 
discernible in the so-called identical plays are generally regarded as later 
modifications made by Wakefield^^ playwrights,^^ although some of the 
changes may have taken place in the York cycle. Moreover, the additions 
by the so-called Wakefield author in the play of the Last Judgment are 
decisive evidence of later revisions in the Towneley cycle. ^^ 

The most recent theory is that proposed by Professor Cady.^'^ Observ- 
ing the general structural similarities which underlie the York and Towne- 
ley plays of the Nativity, Passion, and Resurrection groups, he endeavors 
to account for them by assuming that the two cycles developed from a 
common liturgical source. This theory, however, fails to supply an adequate 

8 Towneley plays X. XIV. XV. XVI, XX, XXI, XXII, and XXIII. 

9 Charles Davidson, Studies in the English Mystery Plays 157. 
m Gayley, Plays of Our Forefathers 134. n. 1. 

11 Davidson, op. cit. 144. 

1= A. W. Pollard, The Towneley Mysteries, EETSES 71: intro. xxvi. 

I'Saintsbury, History of English Prosody. 1:204 ff. 

i* M. H. Peacock, The Wakefield Mysteries: the Place of Representation, Anglia 24:509 ff. 

" Smith, op. cit. intro. xlvi; Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:219 ff.; Pollard, op. cit. intro. xvi ff. 

16 A. W. Pollard, op. cit. intro. xxi and Gayley, op. cit. 177 present this view. Cady, on the other 
hand, (The Towneley Couplets and Quatrains, Jottrn. Eng.Ger. Phil. 10:572 ff. and The Passion Group 
in Towneley, Mod. Phil. 10:599) maintains that the work of the so-called Wakefield author preceded the 
York borrowings. Mrs. Grace Frank, Revisions in the English Mystery Plays, Mod. Phil. 15:181 ff., 
presents evidence for the older view. 

17 Cady, The Liturgical Basis of the Towneley Mysteries, PMLA. 24:419 ff.; op. cit. Mod. Phil. 10:587 ff. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 3 

explanation for the existing relationship/^ since it confines itself to those 
portions of the cycle to which the litiirgy of the Church might be expected 
to afford parallels/^ and takes no account of other similarities which are 
certainly due to vernacular sources. Moreover, it fails entirely to account 
for the remarkable parallels presented by the identical plays. These plays, 
as well as certain similarities in other plays, indicate a common source not 
only in liturgical plays but also in the vernacular. 

Thus, the relation between the two cycles must be explained by a theory 
which takes into consideration, not only all the existing similarities, but 
also all the dissimilarities. In the case of the similarities, we have, as 
already noted, a practical identity of certain plays, a verbal identity of 
isolated passages in certain other plays, and a structural resemblance, 
without the presence of verbal agreement, in still other plays. The earlier 
theories advanced, those by Miss Smith, Mr. Hall, and Dr. Herttrich, 
were based, in general, upon the presence of identical plays in the two 
cycles; the later theories, those by Hohlfeld, Davidson, Pollard, Gayley, 
and Cady, assumed that the relationship which determined the presence 
of identical plays in the two cycles was different from that which determined 
the presence of less striking similarities in other plays. Although, in general, 
they admitted the possibility of independent revisions in the two cycles 
after the period of contact, they failed to consider the possibility that all 
existing similarities may be explained by one hypothesis, and that the 
dissimilarities were the result of later independent revisions. The presence 
of identical plays may, indeed, indicate the relationship originally existing 
in the two cycles. It, therefore, seems to me that the York and Towneley 
cycles were one and the same up to a certain period in the vernacular 
stage; that this identity of plays represents the parent-cycle stage; and 
that this parent cycle, established separately at York and Wakefield (?), 
underwent revisions at both places, the revisions in one cycle being inde- 
pendent, presumably, of those in the other. 

That the similarities in the corresponding plays of the two cycles 
differ in degree and kind is due to the fact that certain plays underwent 
more extended revisions than others. Six distinct groups of plays may be 
distinguished: (1) plays which are practically identical, (2) plays showing 
a close similarity in structure and phraseology extending to the retention 
of common rhymes, (3) plays showing a close similarity in structure, but 
with not so extensive a similarity in phraseology, (4) plays showing a simi- 
larity in structure but with no similarity in phraseology, (5) plays show- 
ing little similarity in structural outline and no agreement in phraseology, 
(6) plays present in one cycle but not in the other. 

13 Mrs. Frank, op. cit. p. 186, n. 2, points out that Professor Cady takes no account of differences in 
earlier York plays as described in Burton's 1415 list. 
" Chambers, The Medieval Stage 2;ch. xviii-xxii. 



CHAPTER I 

THE INFLUENCE OF THE NORTHERN PASSION: A RELATION- 
SHIP IN THE VERNACULAR 

The most decisive evidence pointing to a relationship between York 
and Towneley in the vernacular is supplied by the metrical narrative 
known as the Northern Passion} The immediate source of the two cycles 
is available only in the case of the Passion group: namely, the Northern 
Passion and the Gospel oj Nicodemus,^ and in this group of plays, the 
vernacular sources, not liturgical, adequately account for the existing 
similarities. 

The influence of the Northern Passion upon certain of the York and 
Towneley plays has been noted by Miss Foster,^ but the comparison may 
be extended further. The parallels already pointed out occur in six of the 
twelve plays making up the York Passion group proper.^ Of the six 
remaining plays, the Conspiracy and Agony, as recorded in the accompany- 
ing chart, and the Trial before Herod^ show in a slighter degree the influ- 
ence of the Northern Passion. This leaves but three plays of the York 
Passion group unaffected by it, and two of these, the First Trial before 
Pilate and the Condemnation, show the influence of the other vernacular 
source, the Gospel of Nicodemus} In Towneley, in addition to the Con- 
spiracio,'^ a definite use of the Northern Passion, as shown in the accom- 
panying chart, appears in all of the Passion plays except that of the 
Talents. 

The influence of the Northern Passion upon York and Towneley is 
shown in the following chart. 

1 Frances A. Foster, The Northern Passion EETS 145 and 147. 

' W. H. Hulme, Middle English Harrowing of Hell and Gospel of Nicodemus EETS (Ex. Ser.) 100; 
W. A. Craigie, The Gospel of Nicodemus and the York Mystery Plays Furnivall Birthday Book 52 S. 
The part which the Gospel of Nicodeinus played in the development of the York and Towneley cycles will 
be presented below, ch. II. 

3 Foster, op. cit. EETS 147:81 ff. 

* The plays extending from the Entry into Jerusalem up to and through the Death and Burial are 
included in the Passion group proper. 

5 In Play XXXI, the Trial before Herod, verbal and structural similarities to the Northern Passion 
occur: cf. NP 11. 976a and Y 11. 134-35; NP 11. 962-62d, 967-70 and Y 11. 136-39; NP 1. 999 and Y 1. 324; 
NP II. 1005-6b and Y 11. 394, 392. 

6 See below, ch. II, pp. 31-32 for the influence of the Gospel of Nicodemus upon these two plays. The 
source of the Entry, the other one of the three plays not influenced by the Northern Passion, has not yet 
been discovered. 

' In an earlier article (Mod. Lang. Notes 24:169), Miss Foster believed the influence of the Northern 
Passion apparent in Towneley plays XXII, XXIII, and XXVI, as well as XX, the Conspiracio, but in a 
later study (EETS 147:86 ff.), she says nothing concerning the influence upon the first three plays. 



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28 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 29 

In the preceding comparative analysis, three different groups of simi- 
larities ma\' be distinguished between the Passion plan's of the York and 
Towneley cycles: (1) those which are based primarily upon the Northern 
Passion; (2) those, which merely suggested by the Northern Passion 
narrative, are developed further in both cycles by the use of similar details; 
(3) those which are not found in the Northern Passion. Groups (1) and (2) 
include the incidents which were certainly fundamental in the making up 
of the Passion plays. They form the basis for the chief incidents con- 
nected with the Conspiracy, the Last Supper, the Agony and Betrayal, the 
Examination before Caiaphas, the Bearing of the Cross, the Crucifixion, 
Death, and Burial. The similarities in these two groups, then, are due to 
the use of a vernacular source, and can not be regarded as evidence pointing 
to a common litui-gical source.^" Nor does it seem probable that the simi- 
larities belonging to the third group are of liturgical origin. They seem 
rather to be embellishments used by the playwright for dramatic purposes; 
in mianj- cases, they are merely the additions which a dramatic presenta- 
tion of the subject-matter demanded. 

It is possible that the York and Towneley Passion groups may have 
had a common liturgical source, as suggested by Professor Cady,^^ but all 
traces of it, supposing one to have existed, have been completely 
obliterated by material derived from the Northern Passion. The simi- 
larities existing between the corresponding York and Towneley plays of 
the Passion group can not, then, be explained by the theory of a common 
liturgical source, but must be ascribed, in large part, to the use of a ver- 
nacular source, that of the Northern Passion. 

Were the similarities between the Passion plays of York and Towneley 
confined to the first and second groups, it woiild seem that these plays 
might have been derived independently from a common source, the Northern 
Passion. But the similarities included in the third group, those which have 
no basis in the Northern Passion, preclude this possibility. Such similari- 
ties indicate a contact between the two cycles, which obviously occurred 
after the influence of the Northern Passion. The most striking evidence 
for this view is seen in the events connected with the bearing of the cross 
to Calvary. The wording of the scene is practically identical in both 
cycles, although the text of the Northern Passion, while forming the basis 
for the play, does not provide for the close verbal agreement. The 
existence of such similarities seems rather to point to a parent cycle, from 
which the extant versions of the York and Towneley plays were derived.^^ 

"Cady. The Towneley Nativity and Resurrection Groups PMLA. 24:419 ff.; The Passion Group 
in Towneley Mod. Phil. 10:587 ff. 

" Cady, ihid. Mod. Phil. 10:587 ff. 

12 Whether or not the parent cycle included all of the Northern Passion incidents now present in the 
extant versions of both cycles, it is impossible to determine. It seems probable that the York cycle, 
because its use of the Northern Passion is more extensive than is that of the Towneley cycle, made a second 
and more extended use of it, perhaps when some of the plays were revised in the Northern Septenar metre. 
See below, ch. II, p. 30 ff. 



CHAPTER II 

THE INFLUENCE OF THE GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS 

The Northern Septenar Revision 

The fundamental source of the Passion plays in the York cycle, as has 
been shown in the preceding chapter, was the Northern Passion. But one 
may recognize also in several of these plays the direct influence of another 
vernacular text, the Gospel of Nicodemus. This influence manifests itself 
not only in the appropriation of material but also in the adoption in sev- 
eral plays of its characteristic stanza, the "Northern Septenar." The de- 
pendence of the York plays upon the text of the Gospel of Nicodemus was 
first noted by Mr. Craigie;^ their indebtedness in the matter of metrical 
form was suggested by Professor Hulme in his edition of this Middle 
English poem. 2 

Unlike the Northern Passion, the Gospel of Nicodemus, as I shall 
endeavor to show, did not supply the fundamental source for the York 
plays dealing with the Passion but was used merely for elaboration and 
expansion. Although it forms the basis of the Harrowing of Hell and two 
of the trial scenes before Pilate,^ it could not have been fundamental in 
the formation of the Passion group, because it deals only with the incidents 
connected with the Trial and Condemnation of Jesus before Pilate, of his 
Crucifixion, Death, and Burial, of his Harrowing of Hell, and of his 
Resurrection. The York Passion group, on the other hand, begins with 
the Entry into Jerusalem and includes the events connected with the 
Bargaining and Selling of Jesus, the Last Supper, the Agony and Betrayal, 
the Examination before Caiaphas, Peter's Denial, the Trial before Herod, 
the two Trials before Pilate, the Scourging and Mocking of Jesus, the 
Bearing of the Cross, the Crucifixion, Death, and Burial. All of these 
events, however, as well as the Harrowing of Hell and the Resurection 
are treated by the Northern Passion,'^ the influence of which is seen in all 
the plays beginning with the Conspiracy and up to and including the 
Resurrection, with the exception of the Harrowing of Hell and two of the 
Trial scenes before Pilate. Moreover, the events which are connected with 
but one of the trials in the Gospel of Nicodemus, that of the Condemnation 
of Jesus, are dispersed in York and incorporated into three of the trials, 

1 Craigie, The Gospel of Nicodemus and the York Mystery Plays Furnivall Miscellany 52-61. 

2 Hulme, The Middle English Harrowing of Hell and the Gospel of Nicodemus EETSES lOOiintro. 
xviii. 

' Craigie, loc. cit.; see also below, p. 31, n. 5. 

* Frances A. Foster, The Northern Passion BETS 145 and 147, and above, ch. I. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 31 

the Examination before Caiaphas, the First Trial before Pilate, and the 
Condemnation by Pilate} 

Such a situation seems to indicate that additional material from the 
Gospel of Nicodemus was incorporated into the York cycle in order to 
elaborate the simpler trial scenes originally based upon the Northern 
Passion. This theorj^ is borne out by a comparison with the description 
given the plays in the 1415 Burton list.^ Of the five plays which contain 
additions from the Gospel of Nicodemus, four differ from the description 
given them by Burton. The plays as described by him correspond to 
material derived from the Northern Passion, but they contain no mention 
of any material derived from the Gospel of Nicodemus J 

The extant version of Play XXX, the First Trial before Pilate, contains the fol- 
lowing incidents: (1) the comic love scene between Pilate and his wife, (2) the 
beadle's objection to their behavior, (3) Pilate's preparations for sleep, (4) the 
appearance of the devil to Percula and the sending of the messenger to Pilate with 
the news of the dream, (5) the bringing of Jesus to Pilate, (6) the beadle's worship- 
ping of Jesus as he enters the hall, (7) the beadle's account of the honor accorded 
Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem, (8) the accusations brought against Jesus, and (9) 
Pilate's sending Jesus to Herod when he learns that he is from Galilee. In the descrip- 
tion given the play by the Burton list,^ only the eighth incident, as mentioned above, 
with the possible inclusion also of the fifth and the ninth, are provided for. It is 
significant that the Northern Passion deals only with these three incidents and 
since the influence of the Gospel of Nicodemus is to be found in the fourth, sixth, 
and seventh incidents and in a number of the accusations in the eighth incident, it 

' Verbal agreements are found in the following passages: (1) Between Y PI. XXIX and G of N: Y II. 
33-39 and G of N 11. 39-44, Y 11. 40-45 and G of N Add. II. 29-38, Y 11. 50-54 and G of N 11. 22-28, Y 1. 57 
and G of N 11. 47-48; (2) between Y PL XXX and G of N: (C) Y 1. 177 and G of N 11. 197-98, Y 1. 292 
and G of N 11. 215-16. (C) Y 11. 316-20 and G of N 11. 73-76, Y 11. 336-45 and G of N 11. 85-96, (C) Y 11. 
346-50 and G of N 11. 105-8, Y 11. 373-76 and G of N 11. 113-16, Y 1. 502 and G of N 1. 25; (3) between 
Y PI. XXXIII and G of N: Y 1. 91 and G of N 1. 21. (C) Y 11. 113-19 and G of N 11. 13-20. (C) Y 11. 88. 
134 and G of N 11. 58-60. (C) Y 11. 169-70 and G of N 11. 133-36, (C) Y 11. 183-84 and G of N 11. 139-44. 
(C) Y 11. 243-52 and G of N 11. 161-64, (C) Y 11. 301-6 and G of N 11. 221-24, (C) Y 11. 315-19 and G of N 
11. 309-12. (C) Y 11. 320-24 and G of N 11. 313-14, Y 11. 325-26 and G of N 11. 315-17. 322-23. (C) refers 
to passages called attention to by Mr. Craigie, op. cit. Furnivall Miscellany 52-61. 

* The 1415 Burton list is printed by: 
Drake, Ehoracum app. sxx 
Sharp, Coventry Mysteries 135 
Marriott, Collection of English Miracle Plays xviii 
Smith, York Mystery Plays intro. xix f. 
Pollard, English Miracle Plays, Moralities, and Interludes. 
(For the sake of convenience, I shall refer only to Miss Smith's copy of the 1415 Burton list, hereafter.) 

This would seem to indicate that the separation of the two cycles had taken place some time between 
1415 and the entry into the Towneley manuscript, about the middle of the century. (See Pollard, op. cit. 
EETSES 7 1 :intro. xxvii.) The discrepancy, in the two cycles, of the division into separate plays, however, 
makes it seem probable that the separation took place before 1415. (See below, ch. V, p. 107.) There 
is reason to believe that Burton's list represents the true situation as it existed in 1415. only in regard to 
the separation of plays and their assignment to crafts, but that in many cases, the description given the 
characters and chief events refers to a situation existing at an earlier period. 

' Miss Smith, ibid, intro. xxiv, in speaking of Play XXX, thought it "curious that no mention is made 
by Burton of dame Percula, Pilate's wife, nor of any of the personages in the first scenes, which must 
have been," she says, "prominent and popular." 

8 Burton list. Smith, ibid, intro. xix f. T^he description of the play, as found here, (p. xxiii) is: Jesus, 
Pilatus, Anna, Cayphas, duo consiliarii et iiij"^ ludei accusantes Jesum. 



32 MARIE C. LYLE 



seems possible to conclude that Burton's list describes an older play based only upon 
material from the Northern Passion, and that the extant version of the York play 
represents a later play, showing a combination of events gained from both sources.' 

Play XXXIII, entitled the Second Trial and Judgment before Pilate, the greater 
part of which is undoubtedly based upon the Gospel of Nicodemus, also differs from 
the description given it in Burton's list. The play, as we now have it, is made up of 
the following incidents: (1) Pilate's boasting of his power, (2) Jesus sent back by 
Herod with his message, (3) the accusations brought against Jesus, (4) the bowing 
of the standards when Jesus enters the hall and the anger of the Jews because of it, 
(5) the holding of the standards by the four strongest men in the realm, and in spite 
of their strength, the bowing again of the standards, (6) the deliverance of Barabbas 
and the Jews' demand for Jesus' condemnation, (7) the scourging, crowning, and 
mocking of Jesus, (8) the handwashing scene, (9) the condemnation. Burton^" de- 
scribes the play in these words: Jesus, Pilatus, Cayphas, Annas, sex milites tenentes 
hastas cum vexillis, et alij quattuor ducentes Jesum ab Herode petentes Baraban dimitti 
et Jesum crucifigi, et ibidem ligantes et flagellantes eum, ponentes coronam spineam 
super caput eius; tres milites mittentes sortem super vestein Jesu. The absence of the 
incident of the throwing of dice for the clothing of Jesus in the extant play is evidence 
in itself that Burton described a different play. It is impossible to decide whether 
Burton's reference to the six soldiers carrying spears and ensigns provides for the 
incident of the bowing of the standards or not, but because of the detail with which 
the incidents of this play are described by Burton, it probably does not. It is likely 
that the later introduction of this incident crowded out the incident of the throwing 
of dice, since, in the register, the latter incident has been divided and contracted to 
a few lines at the end of Plays XXXIV and XXXV. Moreover, the description as 
offered by Burton seems to refer to a play much simpler in detail and one which fol- 
lows the Northern Passion narrative more closely than the extant play which shows 
an extensive influence from the Gospel of Nicodemus. 

The description which Burton gives of Play XXXVII, the Harrowing of Hell, 
does not correspond to the present play. He describes the play thus: Jesus spolians 
infernum, xij spiriius, [vj] boni et vj mali.^''- Obviously, this description refers to 
another play, since there is no mention of spirits in the extant version. It seems diffi- 
cult to believe that the patriarchs of the extant play, reciting their prophecies as 
they await the coming of Jesus, or the devils as they oppose his entrance, could be 
referred to as "spirits"; and for that matter, the number of patriarchs and devils 
does not correspond to the number required in the list. It seems probable, then, 
that the description given by Burton refers to an earlier play, differing to a marked 
degree from the extant play, the incidents and phraseology of which are largely 
drawn from the Gospel of Nicodemus. 

The Resurrection, Play XXXVIII, as described by Burton, also seems to refer 
to a simpler play than that of the extant version. Jesus resurgens de sepulcro, qualuor 
milites armati, et tres Marie lamentantes. Pilatus, Cayphas, with the later addition of 
et Anna. Juvenis sedens ad sepulcrum indutus albo, loquens mulieribtis^^ is, in all prob- 
ability, a description of the present play only in so far as it is based upon the Northern 
Passion. No mention is made by Burton of the Centurion's reproaches against the 
Jews, nor of his recital of the overcasting of the weather at the time of Jesus' death, 

• Incidents one, two, and three, having no basis in biblical or apocryphal narratives, are to be regarded 
possibly as an original invention on the part of the playwright. 
^^ See Burton list. Smith, ibid, intro. xxv. 
1' Smith, ibid, intro. xxvi. 
12 Loc. cit. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 33 



given so much prominence at the beginning of the extant play. This material is 
derived from the Gospel of Nicodemiis and if it had been included in the earlier play, 
it seems likely that Burton would, at least, have included the name of the Centurion 
in the list of characters. Apparently, its omission is to be explained only upon the 
ground that the material from the Gospel of Nicodemus was not included in the cycle 
at the time of its formation. 

Since the addition from the Gospel of Nicodemus in Play XXIX, the Examina- 
tion before Caiphas and Peter's Denial, did not necessitate either the introduction of 
an extra character or of a new incident, it is impossible to determine whether the 
play, as described by Burton, refers to the extant version or to an earlier play. Bur- 
ton's description is too meagre in detail to help much: Jesus, Anna, Cayphas, et iiij°^ 
Judei percucientes et colaphizantes Jesum; Petriis, mulier accusans Petrum, et Mal- 
chus}^ The play, as a whole, is based upon the Northern Passion, with the introduc- 
tion of material from the Gospel of Nicodemus in the matter of additional accusa- 
tions,^* thus showing a similar situation to that existing in the other plays. 

As already noted, Professor Hulme suggested the influence of the 
Gospel of Nicodemus stanza upon the Northern Septenar metre in the 
York cycle. He pointed out similarities in metrical structure, in the rhyme 
order, ababababcdcd, and in the three beat measure of the four lines of 
the cauda}^ Such similarities, however, do not positively establish the 
probability of direct influence, but they may be regarded as contributory 
evidence in connection with numerous cases of common rhyme series. ^^ 
I, therefore, submit the following common rhyme series: 

(1) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between Play 
XXXVII, the Harrowing of Hell, and the Gospel of Nicodemus:^"^ 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 15, {a.s)sente, tente, mente, wente; G of N 84, sent, ment, went, (en)tent. Y 22, 
(e)mang, wrang; G of N 43, {o)mang, wrang. Y 2, haue, graue; G of N 69, 88, haue, 
graue. Y 2, sotie, done; G of N 37,^* 55, 129, sone, done. Y 24, telle, helle; G of N 
128, tell, hell. Y 7, saide, laide; G of N 40, 63, 93, 124, sayd, layd. Y 23, mee, he; 
G of N 28, me, be. Y 5, vndirstande, lande, walkand, leiiand; G of N 100, land, vnder- 
stand, walkand, lyfand. Y 22, myght, right; G of N 115, 116, 142, ryght, myght. Y 8, 
30, myght, hight, sight, light; G of N 118, myght, lyght, syght, hyght. 

(b) The included rhymes are: 

Y 1, trayne, agayne; G of N 16, ogayne, slayne, trayne, mayne. Y 9, paste, fasie; 
G of N 65,18 kast,/c5/, past, last. Y 16, name, same; G of N 10,2" blame, same, schame, 
name. Y 9, haue, saue; G of N 64, -^ saue, graue, haue, straue. Y 31, trewe, knewe; 

1' Smith, ibid, intro. x.^iii. 

J^ Compare especially G of N 39-44 and Y 33-40; G of N Add. 29-35 and Y 40-45; G of N 25-29 and 
Y 51-56. 

15 Hulme, op. cit. EETSES 100:intro. xviii, finds that a slight diSerence exists in the nieasure of the first 
eight lines, the Nicodemus having four-stressed lines alternating with three-stressed ones, whereas each 
of the York lines contains four stresses. Such a difference, however, he considers of minor importance. 

16 Davidson, op. cit. 137 £f. establishes the probability of a common authorship for all of the York 
plays in the Northern Septenar. 

1' The references in the case of both texts are to the strophe numbers. 

18 {yzi)done. 

19 Cf. also G of N 112, fast, kast, past, last. 

21 Cf. also G of N 54, name, schame, blame, same. 
" Cf. also G of N 147 Add., saue, haue, graue, staue. 



34 MARIE C. LYLE 

G of N 7,22 treiv, Ihesn, new, knew. Y 28, weste, fesie; G of N 53, best, threst, west, 
fest. Y 25, wende, ende; G of N 45 Add., frende, wende, fende, ende. Y 13,23 28, werre, 
ferre; G of N 142, were, here, fere, nere. Y 27, leere, heere; G of N 39, lere, manere, 
here, here. Y 11, my ght, fight; G of N IZl, fyght, dyght, myght, ryght. Y 22, myght, 
right; G of N 5,2^ ryght, myght, syght, dyght. Y 2, haue, graue; G of N 60,2° grmie, 
haue, straue, crane. Y 7, saide, laide; G of N 68,2'> affrayd, payd, layd, sayd. Y 21, 
hidde, kidde; G of N 6,27 ^y^, kyd, hyd, dvd. Y 33, till, fulfille; G of N 123, ill, tyll, 
skyll, fullfyll. Y 3, ill, will; G of N 19,=^ styll, vntyll, will, ill. Y 18, {a.)bide, tyde; 
G of N 52,29 syde, hyde, tyde, byde. Y 31, w, pus; G of N 31,3" pus, Ihesus, vs, bus. 
Y 17, more, sore; G of N 139 Add., sore, {euev)7nore, J)ore, lore. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play XXXVII is 140. 

The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 31/140 of all in Play XXXVII or 22 
per cent. 

The number of rhyming words agreeing is 68 in 408 lines of Play XXXVII or 
1 in 6 lines. 

(2) The analj^sis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play II, the Creation to the Fifth Day, and the Gospel of Nicodemus: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 7, sone, done; G of N 37,3i 55, 129, sone, done. Y 14, sail, all; G of N 44, 134, all, sail. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y 5, be, se; G of N 19,^2 i^g, se, fre, be. Y 2, forsake, blake, take, wake, sclake, 
make; G of N 44, slake, sake, make, take; G of N 84, make, forsake, wake, take. Y 4, 
pay, day; G of N 47, pray, day, pay, say. Y 14, sail, all; G of N lOO,^^ (with) all, thrall, 
sail, bifall. Y 7, sone, done; G of N 36, ^^ mon, son, trone, done. Y 13, (iov)thoght, 
brtight, (vn) soght, noght, oght, wrothe; G of N 10,'^ thoght, noght, broght, wroght; G of N 
23, broght, soght, noght, wroght. Y 1, wroght, soght; G of N 23, ^^ broght, soght, noght, 
wroght. Y 7, might, bright, syght, wyght, right, dyght; G of N 5^' ryght, myght, syght, 
dyght; G of N 98, myght, ryght, wight, syght. Y 6, b3^de, wede, {on)brede, fede, sede, 
lede; G of N 9, led, wed, fed, bred. Y 8, assent, went, hent, firmament, sent, entent; 
G of N 129, went, assent, hent, entent. Y 4, mene, betwyne, setie, clene, wyne, bydene; 
G of N 92, mene, sene, bidene, wene. 

2- Cf. also G of N 9, (,vn)treive, knew, hebrew, Inoghe. 

23 ware instead of werre. 

" Cf. also G of N 92, ryght, hyght, syght, myght; 98, myght, ryght, wight, syght; 128, myght, wight, 
ryght, hyght; 149 Add., knyght, myght, nyght, right. 

25 Cf. also G of N 64, saue, graue, haue, straue; 147 Add., saue, haue, graue, staue. 

2« Cf. also G of N 77, sayd, layd, aflfrayd, payd; 145 Add., sayde, brayde, mayde, layde. 

" Cf. also G of N 120, hyd, Izyd, dyd, bityd. 

23 Cf. also G of N 26. vntyll. ill, -will, skyll; 31, wyll, ill, skyll, l^aretyll 83, tyll. Kill, skyll, ill. 

2» Cf. also G of N 145 Add., tyde, pride, bide, wyde. 

"> Cf. also G of N 78, pus, vs, Nichodemus, Ihesus. 

'1 {yrCjdone. 

'2 Cf. also G of N 50, plente, he, be, se; 64, me, tre, se, be; 68, meneyhe, se, be, Galile; 80, me, be, se, 
pete; 135, we, preuete, se, be; 140, bounte. se, parde, be. 

M Cf. also G of N 114, all, bifall, sail, small; 132, all, sail, call. sail. 

»* Cf. also G of N 138, (als)sone, trone, done, sone. 

'5 Cf. also G of N 48, soght, broght, wroght, thoght; 62, thoght, noght, broght, soght; 66, thoght, wroght, 
broght, noght; 81, soght, noght, broght, wroght; 124, soght, wroght, broght, thoght; 140, broght, soght, noght, thoght. 

'6 Cf. also G of N 48, soght, broght, wroght, thoght; 81, soght, noght. broght, wroght; 124, soght, wroght, 
broght, thoght. 

s^ Cf. also G of N 57, ryght, dyght, syght, myght. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 35 



(c) The proportions are : 

The number of rhj^me series in Plaj^ II is 41. 

The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 13/41 of all in Play II or 31 per cent. 

The number of rhyming words agreeing is 41 in 86 lines of Play II or 1 in 2 lines. 

(3) The analj^sis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play X, Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac, and the Gospel of Nicodemus: 

(a) The identical rhymes are: 

Y 20, saye, ay; G of N 68, say, ay. Y 14, praye, daye; G of N 97, pray, day. 

Y 16, fayne, layne, slayne, agayne; G of N 20, slayne, fayne, layti, ogayn. Y 23, sone, 
hone; G of N 60, bo7ie, sone. Y 6, sone, done; G of N 37,^^ 55, 129, sojie, done. Y 22, 
wroght, thoght; G of N 146 Add., (he)thoughl, wrought. Y 19, thoght, noght, soght, 
wroght; G of N 66, thoght, wroght, soght, noght. Y 1, Ivffe, wyffe; G of N 16, 18 Add.,^^ 
wyfe, lyf. Y 23, till, will; G of N 12, 14," tyll, ivill. Y 9, wille, ftdfJle, skille, {^er)tille; 
G of N 93, will, tyll, skyll, fullfyll. Y 26, dede, stede; G of N 27, 62, 112, 136, slede, 
dede. Y 2, tree, see, be, me; G of N 64, me, tre, se, be. Y 16, be, me; G of N 28, me, he. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y 8, we, me; G of N 89, he, se, we, me. Y 16, be, vie; G of N 19,*^ me, se, fre, be. 

Y 9, Asse, has; G of N 70, was, pas, ass, has. Y 14, praye, daye; G of N 47,^- pray, 
day, pay, say. Y 20, saye, ay; G of N 55,*^ pray, ay, say, day. Y 27, fayne, agayne; 
G of N 20,*'' slayne, fayne, layn, ogayn. Y 31, agayne, mayne; G of N 16, ogayne, 
slayne, trayne, mayne. Y 4, panne, beganne; G of N 27,''^ man, pan, bigan, kan. Y 25, 
stille, tyll; G of N 19,*" styll, {vn)tyll, will, ill. Y 5, ille, will; G of N 19,"^ styll, vntyll, 
will, ill. Y 23, till, will; G of N 19,''s styll, {vn)tyll, will, ill. Y 26, dede, stede; G of N 
25," rede, dede, hatred, stede. Y 17, fell, telle; G of N 2,^° Gamaliel, fell, spell, tell. 

Y 20, dere, nere; G of N 63/^ fere, nere, dere, here. Y 11, vnto, doo; G of N 35, lo, do, 
vnto, bro. Y 6, sone, done; G of N 36,"mon, sow, trone, done. Y 22, wroght, thoght; 
G of N 10," thoght, noght, broght, wroght. Y 16, desire, fyre; G of N 121, syTe,fyre, 
Ire, desyre. Y 3, dight, sight; G of N 5," ryght, myght, syght, dyght. Y 21, mercy, dy; 
G of N 57, dy, sykerly, by, mercy. Y 1, lyffe, wyffe; G of N 99, wife, ryfe, dryue, lyfe. 

Y 2, ryve, stryve; G of N 131, olyue, stryiie, dryue, ryue. Y 5, stryve, life; G of N 122, 
lyue, stryiie, bilyue, dryue. 

5' {yn)done. 
" {}oe)lyiie. 
" (vn)tyll. 

*i Cf. also G of N 30, contre, be, me, degre; 80, me, be, se, pete. 
« Cf. also G of N 102, say, pray, ay, day. 

" Cf. also G of N 102, say, pray, ay, day; 110, may, oway, say, ay; 111, say, verray, oway, ay; 114, 
aj', say, day, ay. 

** Cf. also G of N 95, fayne, ogayne, frayne, sayne. 

*5 Cf. also G of N 37, pan, man, can, bygan; 59, pan, bigan, ryghtwisman, wan. 

" Cf. also G of N 49, slyll, tyll, skyll, spyll. 

" Cf. also G of N 26, vntyll, ill, will, skyll; 31, wyll, ill, skyll, l>aretyll; 83. tyll. will, skyll. ill. 

48 Cf. also G of N 26, (unXyJ/, ill, will, skyll; 31 wyll, ill. skyll, (>are)/yH.- 88. tyll, will, skyll, ill; 93, will, 
tyll, skyll, fullfyll. 

49 Cf. also G of N 93, rede, dede, stede, godhede; 133. rede, stede, ded, godhede; 143. kynrede, ded, 
stede, godhede. 

60 Cf. also G of N 98. tell, ihi)fell, hell. {bl)fell; 117, tell, hell, fell, snail. 

61 Cf. also G of N 124, clere, dere, here. nere. 

62 Cf. also G of N 138, (als)sone, trone, done, sone. 

M Cf. also G of N 48, soght, broght, wroght, thoght; 66, thoght, wroght, broght, noght; 124, soght. wroght, 
broght. thoght. 

" Cf. also G of N 57. ryght, dyght, syght, myght; 60, syght, ryght, knyght. dyght. 



36 MARIE C. LYLE 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play X is 121. 
The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 36/121 of all in Play X or 30 per cent. 
The number of rhyming words agreeing is 80 in 380 lines of Play X or 1 in 5 — 
lines. 

(4) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play XI, the Pharaoh, and the Gospel of Nicodemus: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 14, wille, vntill; G of N 14, vntyll, will. Y 18, tent, sente, -wente, mente; G of N 
84, sent, ment, went, (en)tent. Y 32, drede, lede; G of N 111, drede, lede. Y 29, be, 
tree, me, see; G of N 64, me, tre, se, be. Y 15, 31, 33, me, be; G of N 28, me, be. Y 24, 
sene, mene; G of N 76, mene, sene. Y 15, nmne, blame, same, shame; G of N 54, name, 
schame, blame, same. Y 29, last, past; G of N 106, last, past. Y 3,faste, laste; G of N 
94, last, fast. Y 7, awe, drawe, lawe, sawe; G of N 141, aw, law, draw, saw. Y 1, passe, 
hasse, was, asse; G of N 70, was, .pas, ass, has. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y 8, syde, bide; G of N 52, syde, hyde, tyde, byde. Y 14, wille, vntill; G of N 19" 
styll, vntyll, will, ill. Y 12, will, per-till; G of N 31, wyll, ill, skyll, paretyll. Y 11, 31, 
noght, brought; G of N 10,=6 thoght, noght, broght, wroght. Y 12, newe, trewe; G of N 
7," trew, Ihesu, neiv, knew. Y 31, wende, lende, fende, kende, shende. sende, frende, 
fende; G of N 43, send, lend; G of N 13S, fend, wend. Y 34, bede, drede, nede, dede; 
G of N 42, 140, dred, nede. Y 6, sprede, rede, dede, drede; G of N 57, dede, dred. Y 
15, 31, 33, me, be; G of N 19,5« me, se, fre, be. Y 34, see, wee; G of N 135, we, preuete, 
se, be. Y 24, sette, mene; G of N 11,°' bene, mene, sene, bidene. Y 16, dere, here; 
G of N 29,^° here, were, dere, powere. Y 30, saide, paied; G of N 68," affrayd, payd, 
layd, sayd. Y 18, sake, take; G of N 44,^^ slake, sake, make, take. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play XI is 133. 
The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 30/133 of all in Play XI or 22 per cent. 
The number of rhyme words agreeing is 72 in 406 lines of Play XI or 1 in 5 + 
lines. 

(5) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play XII, the Prophetic Prologue, and the Gospel of Nicodemus: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 7, vs, Jesus; G of N 70, 118, vs, Ihesus. Y 3, thynge, sprynge; G of N 146, 
spryng, thing. Y 8, Jewe, knewe, newe, hewe; G of N 4, lew, new, knew, hew. Y 12, 
maker e, here; G of N 106, manere, here. Y 10, was, Judas, passe, has; G of N 24," 
(Cayphas), was, pas, has. Y 11, mast, gast; G of N 56, mast, gaste. 

" Cf. also G of N 26, vntyll, ill. will, skyll. 

" Cf. also G of N 23, broght, soght, noght, wroght; 62, thoght, noght, broght, soght; 66, thoght, wroght, 
broght, noght; 81, soght, noght, broght, wroght; 140, broght, soght, noght, thoght. 
*' Cf. also G of N 18, lew, new, trew, rew. 

58 Cf. also G of N 30, contre, be, me, degre; 80 me, be, se, pete. 
'9 Cf. also G of N 18, sarizene, bydene, sene, mene; 92, mene, sene, bidene, wene. 
" Cf. also G of N 63, fere, nere, dere, here; 113, clere, here, Lucifere, dere; 124. dere, dere, here, nere. 
" Cf. also G of N 77, sayd, layd, affrayd, payd. 
" Cf. also G of N 86, spake, sake, make, take. 
«s Cf. also G of N 77, (Cayphas), has, was, {o-aer)pas; 94, (Cayphas), has, pass, was. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 37 

(b) The included rhymes are: 

Y 7, vs, Jesus; G of N 31," Jjus, Ihesus, vs, bus. Y 7, morne, borne; G of N 30/5 
born, biforn, morn, lorn. Y 2, mankyn, syn; G of N 16, mankyn, syn, twyne, blyn. 

Y 1, lyght, hyght; G of N 118, myght, lyght, syght, hyghL Y 12, manere, here; G of N 
39,^^ lere, manere, here, here. Y 1, space, grace; G of N 134, grace, space, trace, lace. 

Y 6, 9, panne, manne; G of N 27," man, pan, bigan, kan. Y 11, masi, gast; G of N 
147, gast, mast, wast, hast. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play XII is 47. 
The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 15/47 of all in Play XII or 31 + per cent. 
The number of rhyme words agreeing is 33 in 144 lines of Play XII or 1 in 5 — 
lines. 

(6) The analysis of the identical rhyme series in Play XV, the Shepherds, 
and the Gospel oj Nicodemiis: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 12, be, me; G of N 28, me, be. Y 11, layde, saide; G of N 40, 63, 93, 124, layd, 
sayd. Y 12, all,falle; G of N 49, 71, 124, 125, all, fall. Y 14, swayne, agayne; G of N 
110, swayne, ogayne. 

(b) The included rhymes are: 

Y 2, say, day, lay, maye, saye, maye; G of N 138, say, day, lay, may. Y 11, glade, 
stadde, hadde; G of N 133, had, glad, bad, stad. Y 2, borne, by-forne; G of N 20,6^ born, 
lorn, sworn, byforn. Y 1, lorne, borne; G of N 20,^^ born, lorn, sworn, byforn. Y 12, 
be, me; G of N 19,"' me, se, fre, be. Y 11, layde, saide; G of N 68," affrayd, payd, 
layd, sayd. Y 12, all, falle; G of N 32, all, fall, sail, hall. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play XV is 26. 

The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 11/26 of all in Play XV or 42 per cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 25 in 84 lines of Play XV or 1 in 3 + lines. 

(7) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play XVII, the Magi, and the Gospel of Nicodemus: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 20, broght, soght; G of N 13, soghi, broght. Y 16, broght, soght, noght, wroght; 
G of N 23," broght, soght, noght, wroght. Y 25, dele, wele; G of N 72, dele, wele. Y 14, 
heuen, neven; G of N 2, heuen, neuen. Y 8, seene, meene; G of N 76, mene, sene. Y 15, 
marre, werre; G of N 137, ware, mare. Y 19, say, lay, praye, way; G of N 105, say, 
pray, lay, way. Y 13, away, lay, saye, pay; G of N 72, pay, say, lay, oway. 

»< Cf. also G of N 78, }jus, vs, Nichodemus, Ihesus. 

" Cf. also G of N 48, biforne, borne, morne, lorne. 

« Cf. also G of N 120, manere, here, fere, powere; 144, here, manere, powere, yhere. 

«' Cf. also G of N 37, pan, man, can, bygan. 

68 Cf. also G of N 30, born, biforn, morn, lorn; 48, biforne, borne, morne, lorne. 

" Cf. also G of N 30, born, biforn, morn, lorn; 48, biforne, borne, morne, lorne. 

'0 Cf. also G of N 30, centre, be, me, degre; 80, me, be, se, pete. 

" Cf. also G of N 77, sayd, layd, affrayd, payd; 145 Add., sayde, brayde, mayde, layde. 

" Cf. also G of N 81, soght, noght, broght, wroght. 



38 MARIE C. LYLE 



(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y 11, was, passe; G of N 21, "^ was, pas, Cayphas, was. Y 17, say, may; G of N 
5,'^ way, say, lay, may, pray, dray. Y 1, saye, wave; G of N 5,'^ way, say, lay, may, 
pray, dray. Y 19, 503-, lay, praye, way; G of N 5, way, say, lay, may, pray, dray. 

Y 19, stande, hande; G of N 11,"" land, hand, gleterand, stand. Y 1, saff, haue; G of 
N 64,"^ saue, graue, haue, straue. Y 27, contre, be; G of N 30, contre, be, me, degre. 

Y 3, see, bee; G of N 19,"^ me, se, fre, be. Y 8, seene, meene; G of N 11,'^ bene, mene, 
sene, bidene. Y 16, saide, paide; G of N 68,^" afirayd, payd, layd, sayd. Y 15, marre, 
werre; G of N 14," sware, mare, ware, hare. Y 14, name, same; G of N 10, ^^ blame, 
same, schame, name. Y 20, broght, soght; G of N 23,*' broght, soght, noght, wroght. 

Y 7, morne, borne; Y 9, byforne, borne; Y 13, borne, lorne; Y 15, beforne, lorne; Y 19, 
borne, morne; G of N 30,*^ born, biforn, morn, lorn. Y 22, wise, price; G of N 106, 
Paradyse, wyse, ryse, pryse. Y 8, stille, ill; G of N 19, styll, vntvU, will, ill. Y 6, 
skyll, wille; G of N 26,85 vntyll, ill, will, skyll. Y 26, myght, knyght'; G of N 149 Add., 
knyght, myght, nyght, right. Y 14, heuen, neven; G of N 33, seuen, neuen, heuen, 
euen. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play XVII is 109. 

The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 31/109 of all in Play XVII or 28+ per 
cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 70 in 336 lines of Play XVII or 1 in 4 + 
lines. 

(8) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play XX, the Doctors, and the Gospel of Nicodemus: 
(a) The identical rhymes are: 

Y 21, Jesus, vs; G of N 70, 118, Ihesus, vs. Y 2, done, sone; G of N 37, »« 55, 129, 
done, sone. Y 23, wiffe, liff; G of N 16, 18 Add.,*' 150 Add., wyfe, lyf. Y 14, we«, 
kene, then, ten; G of N 144, ten, pen, men, ken. Y 8, yhe, see; G of N 18, 139, he, se. 

Y 10, large, charge; G of N 86, charge, large. Y 20, saye, ay; G of N 68, say, ay. Y 7, 
laye, saye; G of N 71, say, lay. 

" Cf. also G of N 24, Cayphas, was, pas, has; 70, was, pas. ass, has; 77, Cayphas, has, was, (ou.et)pas; 
79, helyas, was, pas, has; 94, Cayphas, has, pass, was; 108, Sathanas, was, pas, has. 

'* Cf. also G of N 17, say, may, lay, oway; 41, lay, say, way, may; 85, day, way, say, may; 110, may, 
oway, say, ay; 138, say, day, lay, may. 

'6 Cf. also G of N 17, say, may, lay, oway; 72, pay, say, lay, (o)way; 76, lay, ay, say, {o)way; 83, pray, 
say, {o)way, pay; 85, day, way, say, may; 89, pray, lay, say, {o)way; 110, may, (,o)way, say, ay. 

'" Cf. also G of N 14, hand, land, stand, hand; 88, hand, stand, lyfand, vnderstand. 

" Cf. also G of N 147 Add., saue, haue, graue, staue. 

'8 Cf. also G of N 50, plente, he, be, se; 64, me, tre, se, be; 68, meneyhe, se, be, Galile; 80, me, be, se, pete; 
135, we, preuete, se, be; 140, bounte, se, parde, be. 

'8 Cf. also G of N 92, mene, sene, bidene, wene. 

8° Cf. also G of N 77, sayd, layd, affrayd, payd. 

8' Cf. also G of N 21, mare, sware, spare, ware; 59, ware, fare, sare, mare; 78, ware, mare, are, are. 

82 Cf. also G of N 54, name, schame, blame, same. 

«^ Cf. also G of N 48, soght, broght, wroght, thoght; 62, thoght, noght, broght, soght; 81, soght, noght, 
broght, wroght; 124, soght, wroght, broght, thoght; 140, broght, soght, noght, thoght. 

8* Cf. also G of N 48, biforne, borne, morne, lorne. 

85 Cf. also G of N 31, wyll, ill. skyll, Jjaretyll; 83, tyll, will, skyll, ill; 93, will, tyll, skyll, fullfyll. 

88 (vn)ioKe. 

" (he)lyue. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 39 



(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y 12, brede, rede; G of N 6, rede, dede, brede, wede. Y 20, saye, ay; G of N 55,** 
pray, ay, say, day. Y 7, laye, saye; G of N 5,^^ way, say, lay, may, pray, dray. Y 1, 
maye, waye; G of N 5,^" way, say, lay, may, pray, dray. Y 17, spare, {no)more; G of 
N 21, mare, sware, spare, ware. Y 21, Jesus, vs; G of N 31,^^ ^us, Ihesus, vs, bus. 

Y 8, wrought, noglit; G of N 10, ^^ thoght, noglit, broght, wroghl. Y 2, done, sone; G 
of N 36, °3 mon, son, trone, done. Y 24, tyde, bide; G of N 52,^* syde, hyde, tyde, 
byde. Y 23, wife, liff; G of N 99, wife, ryfe, dryue, lyfe. Y 13, by, sekirly; G of N 
57, dy, sykerly, by, mercy. Y 11, mene, bene; G of N 11, bene, mene, sene, bidene. 

Y 7, lere, here; G of N 39, lere, manere, here, here. 

(c) The proportions are : 

The number of rhyme series in Play XX is 96. 
The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 21/96 of all in Play XX or 21 per cent. 
The number of rhyme words agreeing is 44 in 288 lines of Play XX or 1 in 6 + 
lines. 

(9) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play XXIII, the Transfiguration, and the Gospel of Nicodemus: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 12, no^t, wrought, brought, sought; G of N 23, 81, broght, soght, noght, wroght. 

Y 11, bonne, sonne; G of N 60, bone, sone. Y 6, wyffe, liff; G of N 16, 18 Add.,^* 150 
Add., wyfe, lyf. Y 7, sight, myght; G of N 89, 119, myght, syght. Y 6, witnesse, is; 
G of N 135, 147, es, witnes. Y 14, sende, lende; G of N 43, send, lend. Y 18, stede, dede; 
G of N 27, 62, 112, 136, stede, dede. Y 12, helle, tell; G of N 128, tell, hell. Y 20, me, 
be; G of N 28, me, be. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y 6, wyffe, liff; G of N 99, ^wife, ryfe, dryue, lyfe. Y 1, sight, light; G of N 118, 
myght, lyght, syght, hyght. Y 7, sight, myght; G of N 5,^^ryght, myght, syght, dyght. 

Y 10, dight,fyght; G of N 131,fyght, dyght, myght, ryght. Y 19, sight, wighte; G of N 
98, myght, ryght, wight, syght. Y 11, blys, mys; Y 15, his, blisse; G of N 107, mys, 
blys, his, Iwys. Y 6, witnesse, is; G of N 143, witnes, es, halynes, les. Y 14, sende, 
lende; G of N 104, hend, lend, send, end. Y 18, stede, dede; G of N 25,^^ rede, dede, 
hatred, stede. Y 17, dene, sene; G of N 61,^^ dene, bene, tene, sene. Y 13, pe, be; 
G of N 125, pe, be, se, pete. Y 20, me, be; G of N 19,99 me, se, fre, be. Y 19, priuite, 

88 Cf. also G of N 102, say, pray, ay, day; 110, may, oway, say, ay; 111, say, verray, oway, ay; 134, ay, 
say, may, way. 

8' Cf. also G of N 17, say, may, lay, oway; 41, lay, say, way, may; 42, Jiai, allway, lay, say; 72, pay, 
jay, lay, oway; 89, pray, lay, say, oway; 105, say, pray, lay, way; 114, lay, say, day, ay; 138, say, day, lay, 
may; 146 Add., say, play, lay, day. 

»" Cf. also G of N 17, say, may, lay, {o)way; 41, lay, say, way, may; 85, day, ivay, say, may; 110, may, 
o)way, say, ay. 

91 Cf. also G of N 78, Jjus, I's, Nichodemus, Ihesus. 

92 Cf. also G of N 23, broght, soght, noght, wroght; 66, thoght, wroght, broght, noght; 81, soght, noght, 
broght, wroght. 

93 Cf. also G of N 138, alssone, trone, done, sone. 

M Cf. also G of N 145 Add., tyde, pride, hide, wyde. 

95 {he:)lyue. 

96 Cf. also G of N 92, ryght, hyght, syght, myght; 118, myght, lyght, syght, hyght. 

9' Cf. also G of N 58, rede, ded, red, stede; 93, rede, dede, stede, godhede; 133, rede, stede, ded, godhede; 
143, kynred, ded, stede, godhede. 

»8 Cf. also G of N 119, bene, dene, sene, kene. 

99 Cf. also G of N 30, centre, be, me, degre; 80, me, he, se, pete. 



40 MARIE C. LYLE 

see; G of N 135, we, preuete, se, be. Y 17, clere, seere; G of N 130, sere, clere, were, here. 

Y 9, 18, name, same; G of N 10,"" blame, same, schame, name. 

(c) The proportions are : 

The number of rhyme series in Play XXIII is 80. 
The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 25/80 of all in Play XXIII or 31 per cent. 
The number of rhyme words agreeing is 52 in 240 lines of Play XXIII or 1 in 4 + 
lines. 

(10) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play XXIV, the Woman Taken in Adultery and the Raising of Lazarus, and 
the Gospel oj Nicodemus: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 13, togedir, pedir; G of N 131, togyder, pider. Y 19, right, sight; G of N 15, 74, 
syght, ivp)ryght. Y 10, 11, dede, stede; G of N 27, 62, 112, 136, stede, dede. Y 19, me, 
be; G of N 28, me, be. Y 12, kast, last, past, fast; G of N 65, ^^^ kast, fast, past, last. 

Y 2, hande, fande; G of N 143, hand, f and. 

(b) The included rhymes are: 

Y 12, more, therfore; G of N 151 Add., perefore, lore, {enevjmore, sore. Y 18, 
myght, light; G of N 118, myght, lyght, syght, hyght. Y 5, tyde, hyde, {a.)bide, (gap); 
G of N 52, syde, hyde, tyde, byde. Y 12, frende, wende; G of N 45 Add., frende, ivende, 
fende, ende. Y 1, 3, synne, blynne; G of N 16, ^^^ mankyn, syn, twyne, blyn. Y 7, 
feere, manere; G of N 120,^°' manere, here, fere, powere. Y 8, sene, dene; G of N 61,^"* 
dene, bene, tene, sene. Y 4, rede, dede; G of N 6,^°^ rede, dede, brede, wede. Y 10, il, 
dede, stede; G of N 25,"^ rede, dede, hatred, stede. Y 17, sent, monument; Gof N 61,"^ 
entent, monument, assent, se7it. Y 9, 15, see, free; G of N 19, me, se, fre, be. Y 19, 
me, be; G of N 19,1"^ me, se, fre, be. Y 8, same, blame; Y 7, name, schame; G of N 10,"^ 
blame, same, schame, name. Y 14, may, away; G of N 17,"" say, may, lay, oway. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play XXIV is 70. 
The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 24/70 of all in Play XXIV or 34 per cent. 
The number of rhyme words agreeing is 51 in 209 lines of Play XXIV or 1 in 4 
lines. 

(11) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play XXVII, the Last Supper, and the Gospel oj Kicodemus: 

i"" Cf. also G of N 54, name, schame, blame, same. 

101 Cf. also G of N 112, fast, kast, past, last. 

ii^ Cf. also G of N 75, blyn, in, bigyn, syn; 123, blyn, syn, herein, wyn. 

103 Cf. also G of N 149 Add., manere, were, powere, yfere. 

10* Cf. also G of N 119, bene, dene, sene, kene. 

105 Cf. also G of N 25, rede, dede, hatred, stede; 58, rede, ded, red, stede; 93, rede, dede, stede, godhede; 
133, rede, stede, ded, godhede. 

106 Cf. also G of N 58, rede, ded. red, stede; 93, rede, dede, stede, godhede; 133, rede, stede, ded, godhede; 
143, kynred, ded, stede, godhede. 

10' Cf. also G of N 67, monument, went, sent, tent. 

10' Cf. also G of N 30, contre, be, me, degre; 80, me, be, se, pete. 

10' Cf. also G of N 54, name, schatne, blame, same. 

110 Cf. also G of N 1 10, may, oway, say, ay. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 41 



(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 4, sone, done; G of N 37,i" 55, 129, sotie, done. Y 16, tne, bee; G of N 28, me, 
be. Y 14, dwell, Israeli; G of N 76, dwell, Israel. Y 11, steede, dede; G of N 27, 62, 
112, 136, siede, dede. Y 9, paste, laste; G of N 106, last, past. Y 3, all, call, small, 
befall; G of N 58, all, bifall, call, small. 

(b) The included rh^-mes are : 

Y 4, sone, done; G of N o6,^^- mon, son, trone, done. Y 15, striffe, liff; G of N 
122, lytie, stryue, bilyue, dryue. Y 7, {he)tyde, bide; G of N 52,"^ syde, hyde, tyde, 
byde. Y 16, me, bee; G of N 19,"* me, se, fre, be. Y 4, see, pee; G of N 125, pe, be, se, 
pete. Y 14, dwell, Israeli; G of N 108, hell, dwell, Israel, dwell. Y 11, steede, dede; 
G of N 25,"^ rede, dede, hatred, stede. Y 11, lende, wende; G of N 40, hend, lend, kend, 
wend. Y 6, trewe, newe; G of N 7,"^ trew, Ihesu, new, knew. Y 9, paste, laste; G of N 
65,1^^ kast, fast, past, last. Y 1, has, paas; G of N 24,"^ Cayphas, was, pas, has. 
Y 15, haue, saue; G of N 64, "^ saue, graue, haue, straue. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play XXVII is 62. 

The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 18/62 of all in Plaj- XXVII or 29 — per 
cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 38 in 187 lines of Play XXVII or 1 in 
5 lines. 

(12) The analj'sis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Play XXXV, the Crucifixion, and the Gospel of Nicodemus: 
(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y 6, sone, done; G of N 37, 120 55, 129, sone, done. Y 10, doo, too; G of N 3Z, {vn)to, 
do. Y 16, side, {a.)bide, tyde, hyde; G of N 52, syde, hyde, tyde, byde. Y 13, me, see; 
G of N 132, me, se. Y 23, certayne, agayne; G of N 151 Add., agayne, certayne. Y 2, 
all, schall; G of N 44, 134, all, sail. Y 18, caste, laste, faste, paste; G of N 112, fast, 
kast, past, last. 



(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y 6, so7ie, done; G of N 36, ^^^ mon, 
I, son, trone, done. Y 22, noght, so _ 
Y 1, loo, doo; G of N 35, lo, do, vnto, bro. ' Y 24, stille, wille; G of N 19, styll, vnfyll, 
will, ill. Y 1, fullfille, tille; G of N 93,i" will, tyll, skyll, fullfyll. Y 14, light, hight; 



Y 6, sotie, done; G of N 36, ^^^ mon, son, trone, done. Y 24, mone, sone; G of N 36, 
mon, son, trone, done. Y 22, noght, sought; G of N 23,^22 broght, soght, noght, wroght. 



1" Qvn)done. 

"2 Cf. also G of N 138, alssone, trone, done, sone. 
"3 Cf. also G of N 145 Add., tyde, pride, bide, wyde. 

11* Cf. also G of N 30, centre, be, me, degre; 64, me, tre, se, be; 80, me, be, se, pete. 

"5 58, rede, ded, red, stede; 93, rede, dede, stede, godhede; 133, rede, stede, ded, godhede; 143, kynred, 
ded, stede, godhede. 

lis Cf. also G of N 18, lew, new, trew, rew. 
"' Cf. also G of N 112, fast, kast, past, last. 

"8 Cf. also G of N 70, was, pas, ass, has; 77, Cayphas, has, was, (ouer)^a5; 79, helyas, was, pas, has; 
94, Cayphas. has, pass, was; 108. Sathanas, was. pas, has. 
1" Cf. also G of N 147 Add., saue, haue, graue, staue. 
"0 (_vn)done. 
121 Cf. also G of N 138, alssone, trone. done, sone. 

I" Cf. also G of N 62, thoght, ttoght, broght, soght; 81. soght, noght, broght, wroght; 140, broght, soght, 
noght, thoght. 

iM Cf. also G of N 123. ill, tyll. skyll, fullfyll. 



42 MARIE C. LYLE 

G of N 118, mvght, lyght, syght, hyght. Y 9, blynne, ynne; G of N 75, hlyn, in, bigyn, 
syn. Y 7, feste, beste; G of N 53, best, threst, west, fest. Y 19, felle, telle; G of N 2^^* 
Gamaliel, /e//, spell, tell. Y 5,fende, ende; G of N 45 Add., frende, v;en6.e,fende, ende. 
Y 13, me, see; G of N 19, i" me, se, fre, be. Y 17, we, bee; G of N 71,i26 we, cete, Galile, 
be. Y 2, all, schall; G of N lOO.i" (with)c^/, thrall, sail, bifall. Y 20, smale, all; G of 
N 26,128 hall, o//, 5ma//, call. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Play XXXV is 100. 

The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 22/100 of all in Play XXXV or 22 per 
cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 48 in 300 lines of Play XXXV or 1 in 
6+ lines. 

(13) The anal3^sis of the identical rhyme series of Play XLIV, the 
Descent oj the Holy Spirit, and the Gospel oj Nicodemus: 

(a) The identical rh^-mes are: 

Y 19, boune, sone; G of N 60, bone, sone. Y 10, myght, light, highte, sight; G of N 
118, myght, lyght, syght, hyght. Y 17, myght, sight; G of N 89, 119, myght, syght. Y 5, 
hyde, tyde, bide, (a)side; G of N 52, syde, hyde, tyde, bydc. Y 19, be, me; 6 of N 28, 
me, be. Y 6, hende, sende; G of N 56, hend, send. Y 15, drede, nede; G of N 42, 140, 
dred, nede. Y 12, heuyn, euyn; G of N 84, 99, heuen, etien. Y 11, emang, sange; G of 
N 8, sang, omang. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y 5, till, still; G of N 19,i29 styll, ivn)tyll, will, ill. Y 17, myght, sight; G of N 5,^^° 
ryght, myght, syght, dyght. Y 2, wise, aviso; G of N 141, avyse, prophecyse, clergyse, 
wyse. Y 19, be, me; G of N 80, me, be, se, pete. Y 7, wente, sente; G of N 67, i" monu- 
ment, went, sent, tent. Y 15, drede, nede; G of N 110, forbede, nede, drede, lede. Y 12, 
heuyn, euyn; G of N 33,seuen, neuen, heuen, euen. Y 6, haue, saue; G of N 64, i^- saue, 
graue, haue, straue. 

(c) The proportions are : 

The number of rhyme series in Play XLIV is 71. 

The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 17/71 of all in Play XLIV or 24— per 
cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 38 in 224 lines of Play XLIV or 1 in 6 
lines. 

(14) The analysis of the identical rhyme series^^^ appearing between 
the Tovv^neley Conspiracio (the Northern Septenar strophes) and the 
Gospel oj Nicodemus: 

i!« Cf. also G of N 117, lell. hell./ei/, snell; 150 Add., telle, speWe, felle, elle. 
'25 Cf. also G of N 80, me, be, se, pete; 89, he, se, we, me. 
125 Cf. also G of N 101, we, he, gle, be; 135, we, preuete, se, be. 
«' Cf. also G of N 114, all, bifall, sail, small; 132. all, sail, call, sail. 
128 Cf. also G of N 114, all, bifall, sail, small. 
"» Cf. also G of N 49, styll, tyll, skyll, spyll. 

"« Cf. also G of N 92, ryght, hyght, syght, myght; 118, myght, lyght, syght, hyght. 
"1 Cf. also G of N 76, hent, present, sent, went; 84, sent, ment, went, entent. 
122 Cf. also G of N 147 Add., saue, haue, graue, staue. 

1" I have retained Mr. Pollard's numbering although it does not correspond to the Northern Septenar 
form. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 43 



(a) The identical rhymes are: 

T 23, wyll, tyil; G of N 12, 14,i3^ tyll, will. T 10, present, assent; G of N 31, pres- 
ent, assent. T 28, ken, men, then, ten; G of N 144, ten, pen, men, ken. T 19, els, 
d'ivelles, mels, tels; G of N 35, dwelles, telles, melles, elles. T 27, avayll, counsayll; G of 
N 149 Add., availe, consaile. T 28, take, wake, sake, make; G of N 84, make, (ior)sake, 
wake, take. T 16, say, day; G of N 23, 28, 57, say, day. 

(b) The included rhymes are: 

T 31, skyll, will; G of N 26,"5 vntyll, ill, will, skyll. T 45, higlit, myght; G of N 
92,1^^ ryght, hyght, syght, myght. T 25, went, assent; G of N 129, went, assent, hent, 
entent. T 33, we, be; G of N 71,^" we, cete, Galile, be. T 15, thus, vs; G of N 31,i38 pus, 
Ihesus, vs, bus. T 41, seyn, teyn; G of N 45, sene, wene, tene, bene. T 39, wroght, 
broght; G of N 48, soght, broght, wroght, thoght. T 25, kyd, byd; G of N 6, byd, kyd, 
hyd, dyd. T 37, yll, styll; G of N 19, styll, vntyll, will, ill. T 33, say, pay; G of N 
47,123 pray, day, pay, say. T 47, glad, had; G of N 133, had, glad, bad, stad. 

(c) The proportions are : 

The number of rhyme series in the Towneley play is 85. 

The number of rhyme series in G of N is 585. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 18/85 of all in the Towneley play or 21 + 
per cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 42 in 264 lines of the Towneley play or 
1 in 6 lines. 

The preceding analysis indicates that practically the same relationship, 
as regards the presence of identical rhymes, exists in the Gospel of Nicodemus 
and each of the York plays composed in the Northern Septenar form. The 
HarrOiVing of Hell, clearly a revised play because of the different descrip- 
tion accorded it by Btirton in the list,^'*° and containing as it does, both the 
subject-matter and the stanzaic form of the Gospel of Nicodemus, seems to 
be a fair standard by which to compare the other plays. In the proportion 
of rhyme series, only two plays (XI and XX) fall below 22 per cent, the 
standard set by the Harrowing of Hell, and one play (XV) almost doubles 
this proportion. In the number of agreeing rhyme words, no play falls 
below the standard. The Northern Septenar strophes in the Towneley 
Conspiracio also show a similar influence. 

Since the material derived from the Gospel of Nicodemus represents a 
later addition to the York cycle, the adoption of its metrical form is like- 
wise to be regarded as a later innovation. The Harrowing of Hell, which 
combines both the subject-matter and the metre of the source, was 
probably one of the first plays revised. Three other plays, XXIX, XXX, 
XXXIII, showing the influence of Nicodemus material, w^ere probably 

"^ (,-vn)tyll. 

"5 Cf. also G of N 31, wyll, ill, skyll, J)aretyll; 83, tyll, will, skyll, ill; 93, will, tyll. skyll, fullfyll. 

i3» Cf. also G of N 118, myghl. lyght. syght, hyght; 128, myght, wight, ryght, hyght. 

"' Cf. also G of N 101, we, he, gle, be; 135, we, preuete, se, be. 

'38 Cf. also G of N 78, pus, vs, Nichodemus, Ihesus. 

"' Cf. also G of N 72, pay, say, lay, oway; 83, pray, say, oway, pay. 

"• See Burton list. Smith, op. cit. intro. xxvi. 



44 MARIE C. LYLE 

originally composed in the Northern Septenar, and subsequently altered 
to their present metrical forms. "^ The great number of plays extant in 
the Northern Septenar stanza or later modifications of it"- point to an 
extensive revision. 

Scriptural accuracy and doctrinal correctness appear to be character- 
istics of the Northern Septenar plays, characteristics which were not 
entirely lost sight of even in succeeding revisions. One of the craft records 
shows the Masons protesting against supporting their play any longer, 
on the express ground that it had no scriptural basis. "^ 

The York plays, on the whole, are reverent and seeml}" in tone;"* they 
are generally regarded as uninteresting and conventional in material and 
as formal, dignified, and serious in manner."^ For the most part, they 
follow Biblical accounts with only occasional deviations into apocryphal 
legends."" The doctrinal object of the whole scheme of the mysteries is 
seldom lost sight of in the development of individual plays. Isaac is not 
the terrified youth of the other English plays, but a prototype of Christ 
himself, a man of thirty years, calm and resigned in the face of God's 
command."^ In the play of Cain and Abel, the duty of paying tithes is 
emphasized by the angel who delivers the message from the Deity."* 
Although incidents from the Northern Passion have been used in develop- 
ing the play of the Last Slipper, they have -been rearranged according to 
the order given in the Gospel of St. John."^ 

In contrast to the Towneley cycle. Ten Brink^^^ has already pointed 
out certain features of the York plays which indicate scriptural accuracy 
or fitting moderation. "In the play of the Deluge," he says, "Noah's 
wife is obstinate and quarrelsome, as may be expected of her, but there 
appears at least some motive for her conduct, and the composure and 
patience of the patriarch are guaranties that the conjugal quarrel will be 
maintained within definite bounds. The York Pilate is conceived to some 
extent, as human and not so much caricature and even the Herod of the 
history of the Passion shows some touches of justice. At the trial of 
Christ before the High Priest, Annas and Caiaphas have, as it were, 
changed parts; yet the York Annas is very far from being raised to that 

1" Gayley, op. cil. 154. 
>« Davidson, op. cit. 137. 

'"Sellers, York Memorandum Book, Suriees Society 125:123. 
1" Smith, op. cit. intro. xlvii; Clarke, Miracle Plays in England 18. 

"5 Pollard, op. cit. EETSES 71:intro. xxix; Hemingway, English Nativity Plays, p. xxxix. 
1" Smith, loc. cit.; Kamann, Ueber Quellen und Sprache der York Plays Anglia 10:189 ff.; Holthausen, 
Nachtrag zu den Quellen der York Plays, Herrig's Archiv 85:425; 86:280 ff. 

"" Ten Brink, History of English Literature 2:270; Courthope, History of English Poetry 1:405. 

"s Clarke, op. cit. 18. 

"9 Cady, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 10:591. 

»o Ten Brink, loc. cit. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 45 

fiendish ingenuity of spiteful wickedness which astonished us in the 
Woodkirk Caiaphas." Probably, then, revisions at York were influenced, 
to some extent, by a desire to redeem the plays from the disrepute into 
which they had fallen in the fourteenth century.^^^ 

There were, it would seem, two principles underlying the York revisions, 
those of expansion and contraction. Expansion is seen in the use of more 
complicated stanzaic forms whose rhyme schemes demanded an expansion 
in phraseology, and in the introduction of additional apocryphal material; 
contraction is seen in the omission of certain incidents not conformable 
to scriptural accounts or to accepted authorities. These principles, as the 
basis of the York revisions, will be considered in the discussion of the 
individual plays. ^^- 

The Old Theory of a York Parent Cycle Untenable 

Since it is probable that the Northern Septenar metre in the York 
cycle belongs to the period of revision, it becomes clear that the plays 
occiurring in that metre can no longer be regarded as the remains of the 
parent cycle, as argued by Mr. Davidson.^^^ Assuming that the parent 
cycle must have been written by one man in a single metre, he selected 
the plays in the Northern Septenar stanza because they were the only 
plays having an identical metre which, he believed, could possibly have 
formed a cycle. ^^* This assumption, however, seems untenable. 

In the first place, the incidents which form the subject of the Northern 
Septenar pla^^s are not those which would certainly have been included 

>5' Robert Grossetete and Robert de Brunne considered attendance at the mysteries a sinful act. See 
Collier, Annals of the Stage 6 ff. The ranting of Herod and Pilate had become stock situations by Chau- 
cer's time. See the Miller's Prologue and Tale. 

162 See below, ch. IV. 

153 Davidson, op. cit. 137 ff. Mr. Davidson's theory has been generally accepted: see Coblentz, Mod. 
Lang. Notes 10:77; Gayley, op. cit. 153 ff.. Representative English Comedies intro. xxiv, Internal. Quart. 
10:125; Cady, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 10:590. Previous to Mr. Davidson's study. Professor Hohlfeld (op. cit. 
Anglia 11:248) suggested that the Northern Septenar plays, because of their dignified and religious 
character, were just such plays as would surely have belonged to an original cycle, with the possible ex- 
ception of XI, XXIII, and part of XXIV. 

1" By means of rhyme scheme tests indicating a common authorship, Mr. Davidson {op. cit. 137 ff.) 
includes the following plays in his proposed parent cycle: II, the Creation to the Fifth Day, VIII, the Building 
of the Ark, IX, Noah and His Wife, the Flood and Its Waning, X, Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac, XII, the 
Annunciation, the Prologue, XV, the Angels and the Shepherds (the first three strophes and the last four, 
omitting the comic episodes), XVII, the Coming of the Three Kings to Herod, the Adoration (strophes 
22, 23, 24, he thinks may have been rewritten), XX, Christ with the Doctors in the Temple, XXIII, the 
Transfiguration, XXIV, the Woman Taken in Adultery, the Raising of Lazarus, W. XX, Conspiracio, 
(Towneley) from "Cayphas" to "Tunc dicet Sanctus Johannes," later supplanted in York, XXVII, the 
Last Supper, XXXV, the Crucifixion, XXXVII, the Harrowing of Hell, XLIV, the Descent of the Holy 
Spirit. Mr. Davidson, however, is not justified in including the Annunciation. It occurs in double 
quatrains, as does the Visit to Elizabeth, and is part of the same play. If he includes the one, he has no 
reason, it would seem to omit the other. Since he does not apply his rhyme scheme tests to the double 
quatrains of this play, he presents no proof showing their connection with the Northern Septenar strophes, 
and therefore, is not entitled to include the Annunciation in his parent cycle. Other scholars have also 
expressed opinions regarding the legitimacy of including certain plays. Mr. Coblentz (Mod. Lang. Notes 
10:77) accepts all of Davidson's parent cycle except the Wakefield Conspiracio. Professor Gayley (Plays 
of Our Forefathers 153, n. 1) omits Play IX. 



46 MARIE C. LYLE 

in a cycle developed from liturgical plays. ^^^ Of the nine incidents clearly 
demanded by any Nativity and Resurrection liturgical groups, the 
Prophetae, the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Shepherds, the Magi, the 
Quern Quaeritis, the Hortulanus, the Peregrini and perhaps the Incredulity 
of Thomas, Mr. Davidson's cycle includes but three, the Prophetae, the 
Shepherds, and the Magi. 

Besides this omission of certain essential plays, the proposed parent 
cycle includes plays which could have been present, it would seem, only in 
a fairly complete cycle. The most striking case is that of the Transfigura- 
tion, which is not found in any of the other highly developed English 
cycles. Although plays dealing with Christ's ministry, such as the Doctors, 
the Woman Taken in Adultery, and Lazarus, may have existed in the parent 
cycle, their presence in an early stage seems unlikely since the material 
which they treat i^ not fundamental in cyclical formation. 

Moreover, Mr. Davidson himself admits the superior age of certain 
other plays of supposed "church origin. "^^^ 

Separation of the York and Towneley Cycles 

The contact between York and Towneley must have extended into 
the period in which the influence of the Gospel oj Nicodemus was felt, 
because two of the plays common to both cycles, the Harrowing of Hell 
and the Resurrection, include material derived from that source. The 
separation must have occurred, however, before that material was com- 
pletely assimilated, for three York plays incorporate Nicodemus material^^^ 
while the corresponding Towneley plays show no trace of it. Moreover, 
the number of York plays in the Northern Septenar metre far exceeds 
the number of Tov/neley plays in the same metre, thus indicating that, 
in all probability, the Towneley cycle includes certain plays of the parent 
cycle which, at York, were subsequently turned into the Northern Septenar 
metre or other stanzaic forms. 

155 The reference in the Statutes of York Cathedral to the Pastores and Stella (Lincoln Statutes 2:98; 
Chambers, The Medieval Stage 2:399; Craig, Origin of the Old Testament Plays Mod. Phil. 10:485) 
makes it probable that the York cycle had its origin in the liturgy, and that York had liturgical plays of 
the Nativity and probably the Resurrection. Since it can not be determined at present, whether or not 
there existed at York a liturgical play on the Passion, the Passion group will not be included in the 
present discussion. See Chambers, op. cit. 2:ch. xviii-xxii; Cady, op. cit Mod. Phil. 10:587 ff.; and above, 
ch. I, p. 29. 

156 Davidson, op. cit. 137. 
"7 See above, p. 30 ff. 



CHAPTER III 

THE INTERRELATION OF THE YORK AND 
TOWNELEY METRES 

In the identical plays of the York and Towneley cycles/ four distinct 
metres occur, the Northern Septenar, the "Burns" measure, the double 
quatrain, and the ten-line (six plus four) stanza,^ rhyming aabaabcbcb. 
If the identical plays be regarded, not as "borrowings" on the part of 
Towneley from York, but as existing in the period before York and Towne- 
ley became separate cycles, we shall have to do with three stages in the 
development of metrical formes: the parent cycle, with its characteristic 
metres, and the York and Towneley cycles, each with its characteristic 
metres introduced after the separation. Since the greater part of six 
plays of the parent cycle escaped revision in both cycles, it is possible 
that certain other plays were revised in one cycle but remained practically 
unchanged in the other. Some of these plays may be determined by means 
of metrical forms common to both cj^cles. 

Apparently, a common Resurrection group composed entirely in the 
"Burns" stanza originally existed in the parent cycle. The theory that 
Towneley "borrowed" certain plays from York encounters serious dif- 
ficulties in the case of the Resurrection. To suppose that Towneley 
already possessed a Resiurrection group but wished to exchange its own 
play for the York Resurrection seems improbable; to suppose that the 
Towneley cycle, at that time, was so small and incomplete that the York 
Resurrection was borrowed to fill an existing gap is likewise inconceivable, 
for no matter how small or incomplete a cycle might have been, it would 
certainly have included a Resurrection proper.^ The very core of a Resur- 
rection group is in the Resurrection proper, and without that, the existence 
of a group of Resiirrection plays would be impossible. If Towneley did 
not possess a play of the Resurrection proper before such a supposed bor- 
rowing, then it could not have possessed other plays immediately follow- 
ing the actual resurrection of Jesus, such as the Appearance of Jesus to 
Mary Magdalene, the Peregrini, and the Incredulity oj Thomas. Practically 
a complete Resurrection group composed in the "Burns" stanza is still 
extant in individual plays of either one cycle or the other : the Resurrection 
proper, still identical in both cycles, the Towneley Peregrini (most of it), 
the York Incredulity oj Thomas, and two strophes of the Towneley 

1 The Pharaoh, the Doctors, and the Harrowing of Hell are written in the Northern Septenar, the 
Resurrection in the "Burns" measure, the Last Judgment in double quatrains, and On the IVay to Calvary 
in the ten-line stanza. 

2 Saintsbury, History of English Prosody 1:209. 
' Chambers, ibid. 2:ch. xviii-xxii. 



48 MARIE C. LYLE 

Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene. A Resurrection group naturally 
includes these four incidents, and therefore it seems reasonable to conclude 
that the parent cycle included a complete Resurrection group in the 
"Burns" stanza. 

The parent cycle may also have included certain other plays in the 
"Burns" metre. Perhaps the Towneley Suspencio Itide and Magi and the 
York Expulsion belong to this stage. Similarities in stanzaic form, verse 
movement, and lack of structural alliteration connect these plays with 
those of the Resurrection group in the same metre. The use of identical 
rhymes, though less evident, may be considered significant in indicating 
a common influence. 

The York Resurrection will be selected as the standard by which to 
compare all the plays occurring in the "Burns" metre. 

(1) The analysis of the identical rhyme series occiirring between York 
XLII, the Incredulity of Thomas, and York XXXVIII, the Resurrection: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y XLII:26, feele, wele; Y XXXVIII:22, fele, wele. Y XLII:13, me, see; Y 
XXXVIII:32, see, me. Y XLII:23, {wn)wise, rise; Y XXXVIII:27, ryse, wise. 

(b) The included rhymes are: 

Y XLII:18, man, wan; Y XXXVIII:16, wanne, blanne, manne, ^anne. Y 
XLII:22, gang, mang; Y XXXVIII:10, {a)mong, gang, lang, wrang. Y XLII:19, 
Pyne, tyne; Y XXXVIII :33, pyne, tyne, medicyne, hj^ne. Y XLII:23, {yn)wise, rise; 

Y XXXVIII :6, wise, rise, dispise, assise. Y XLII:2, sloo, goo; Y XXXVIII :5 7, goo, 
soo, sloo, woo. Y XLII:17, morne, lorne; Y XXXVIII :65, borne, beforne, morne, 
lorne. Y XLII:5, soghte, hroght,p ought; Y XXXVIII :40, pought, sought, broiight, noght. 

(c) The proportions are : 

The number of rhyme series in York XLII is 66. 

The number of rhyme series in York XXXVIII is 152. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 10/66 of all in York XLII or 15+ per 
cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 21 in 198 lines of York XLII or 1 in 9 >^ 
lines. 

(2) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
York XXII, the Temptation, and York XXXVIII, the Resurrection: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y XXII :3, fetide, ende; Y XXXVIII :6, {oi)fende, ende. Y XXII :8, ill, will; 

Y XXXVIII:10, will, ill. Y XXII:31, till, will; Y XXXVIII:71, (vn)/z7/, will. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y XXII:16,/a//e, schall; Y XXXVIII:68, schall, all, call, (be)/a//. Y XXII:25, 
hende, frende; Y XXXVIII:44,^ layne, wende, frende, hende. Y XXII:27, wende, 
ende; Y XXXVIII :58, hende, wende, frendes, ende. Y XXII :1 7, myght, sight; Y 
XXXVIII :32, dight, wight, sight, myght. Y XXII :13, allone, ilkone; Y XXXVIII :26,5 
ilkone, allone, anone, gone. Y XXII :6, 10, moo, two; Y XXXVIII :38, moo, also, goo, 
to. Y XXII :5, borne, morne; Y XXXVIII :65, borne, beforne, morne, lorne. 

< Cf. also Y XXXVIII:58, hende, ^er^de, frendes, ende. 

5 Cf. also Y XXXVIII:64, (ener) ilkone, stone, none, allone. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 49 



(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in York XXII is 70. 

The number of rhyme series in York XXXVIII is 152. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 10/70 of all in York XXII or 14+ per 
cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 20 in 210 lines of York XXII or 1 in 10 
lines. 

(3) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
York VI, the Expulsion, and York XXXVIII, the Resurrection: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

Y VI:28, wrange, emange, lange, gange; Y XXXVIII :10, among, gang, long, 
wrong. Y VI :2, iille, wille; Y XXXVIII :71, {vn)till, will. Y VI:24, gilte, spilte; 
Y XXXVIII :46, spilte, gilte. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

Y VI:23, bydene, sene; Y XXXVIII :3,^ mayntayne, bedene,wene,sene. Y VI:25, 
pought, nought; Y XXXVIII :57, pought, sought, brought, noght. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in York VI is 58. 

The number of rhyme series in York XXXVIII is 152. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 5/58 of all in York VI or 9+ per cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 14 in 168 lines of York VI or 1 in 12 lines. 

(4) The analysis of the identical rhymes appearing between Towneley 
XXVII, the Peregrini, and York XXXVIII, the Resurrection: 

(a) The identical rhymes are : 

T 26, drede, yede; Y 62, ^ede, drede. T 60, thus, vs; Y 70, pus, vs. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

T 51, away, say; Y 27,^ saie, purvaye, may, away. T 28, saw, knaw; Y 20,^ with- 
drawe, awe, sawe, knawe. T 16, tre, me; Y 46, me, three, free, tre. T 32, be, se; Y 37, 
free, see, be, thre. T 6, ded, red; Y 4,^ steede, hede, dede, rede. Til, dede, yede; T 26, 
drede, yede; Y 54, dede, )ede, drede, nede. T 18, two, go; Y 43, soo, froo, too, goo. 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Towneley XXVII is 76. 

The number of rhyme series in York XXXVIII is 152. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 10/76 of all in Towneley XXVII or 13 + 
per cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 20 in 246 lines of Towneley XXVII or 
1 in 12 lines. 

(5) The analysis of the identical rhyme series appearing between 
Towneley XIV, the Magi, and York XXXVIII, the Resurrection: 

' Cf. also Y XXXVIII :8, mene, sene, bedene, wene. 

' Cf. also Y 29, maye, day, aivay, saie; 49, saie, laye, awaye, ay; 71, saie, daye, araye, awaye. 

' Cf. also Y 61, sawe, knawe, awe, drawe. 

' Cf. also Y S3, rede, dede, steede, hede. 



50 MARIE C. LYLE 



(a) The identical rhymes are: 

T 33, vs, thus; Y 70, pus, vs. T 43, morne, borne, lorne, beforne; Y 65, borne, 
beforne, morne, lorne. T 50, to, do; Y 24, (t)er)/o, do. T 38, 85, wyll, vntyll; Y 71, 
vntill, will. T 81, heynd, weynd, leynd,freytid; Y 44, layne (Jendc), wende,frende, hende. 
T 40, hende, ende; Y 26, hende, ende. T 73, me, se; Y 32, see, me. T 41, red, sted, hed, 
ded; Y 4, 53, steede, hede, dede, rede. T 46, way, say; Y 56, ivay, sate. T 78, say, lay, 
way, may; Y 41, saie, I aye, may, way. 

(b) The included rhymes are : 

T 23, no7ie, alone; Y 64, (euer)ilkone, stone, none, allone. T 90, broght, soght; 

Y 40, Jjought, sought, brought, noght. T 80, fro, so; Y 25,1" soo, goo, froo, moo. T 3, 
ying, thyng; Y 5," thyng, beriyng, ping, thidingis. T 13, ying, kyng; T 63, thyng, kyng; 

Y 15, thyng, ping, mornyng, kyng. T 48, rewe, knew; Y 14, rewe, enewe, trewe, knewe. 
T 40, hejide, ende; T 97, eti^e, weynd; T 101, heynd, weynd; Y 58, hende, wende, frendes, 
ende. T 36, 104, cuntre, be; T 24, 34, 7ne, be; Y 1, me, degre, contre, be. T 58, me, thre; 

Y 46, me, three, free, tre. T 17, 89, cuntre, se; Y 74, contre, degre, be, see. T 22, 
weynd, send; Y 73, amende, kende, sende, wende, T 103, mavere, sere; Y 36, dere, 
manere, clere, sere, T 46, way, say; Y 41,^^ saie, laj-e, may, way. T 83, away, say; 

Y 27,1^ saie, purvaye, may, away, 

(c) The proportions are: 

The number of rhyme series in Towneley XIV is 206. 

The number of rhyme series in York XXXVIII is 152. 

The number of agreeing rhyme series is 26/206 of all in Towneley XIV or 12-}- 
per cent. 

The number of rhyme words agreeing is 60 in 630 lines of Towneley XIV or 1 in 
10 4- Hnes. 

The proportion of identical rhyme series occurring in the York plays 
under discussion and the York Resurrection, selected as a standard, varies 
from ten to fifteen per cent; the proportion between the Towneley plays 
and the standard falls within the same limits, namely, twelve and thirteen 
per cent. The proportion of identical words is also similar: the York 
plays show an identity with the standard in from one in nine and one half 
lines to one in twelve lines; the Towneley plays from one in ten lines to 
one in twelve lines. It is, then, apparent that the plays of both cj^cles 
in the "Burns" metre were composed under the same influence, and must, 
therefore, represent plays of the parent cycle. 

The presence in the Towneley C3'cle of certain plan's in the Northern 
Septenar^* and in the "Burns" measure, shown by rhyme scheme tests to 
be plays of the parent cycle, supplanted in York by other versions, leads 
to the conclusion that other plays of the parent cycle in other metres 
may now exist in, Towneley. The Last Judgment, in double quatrains, 
and On the Way to Calvary, in the ten-line (six plus four) stanza, practically 
identical in the two cycles, are cases in point. The Towneley Abraham 

" Cf. also Y 69, soo, froo, goo, mo. 

'• Cf. also Y IS, thyng, ping, tnornying, kyng. 

•' Cf. also Y 43, saie, daye, maye, waye; 52, day, luaye, saie, aSraye. 

" Cf. also Y 29, maye, day, away, saie; 49, saie, laye, awaye, ay; 71, saie, daye, araye, auaye. 

"See Davidson, op. cit. 144. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 51 

and Isaac as well as John the Baptist,^'" occur in double quatrains similar to 
those of the Last Judgment, and like the plan's in the Northern Septenar 
and "Burns" metres, may perhaps also be regarded as parent plan's sub- 
sequently revised in York. The presence in the Townele}^ Talents of 
strophes rh^^ming ababcbc may bear some connection with the York plays 
in the same metre, the Nativity, the Baptism, and the Entry. It is even 
possible that the parent cycle m.ade a more extended use of this metre 
than is apparent in the extant plays : the play of the Talents, now omitted 
from the York cycle but described in a 1422 record, ^^ may be partly pre- 
served in the ababcbc strophes of the Towneley play.^^ Some significance 
may also be attached to the fact that the main action of the play appears 
in this form, while elaborations appear in other metres and may, therefore, 
represent additions to or revisions of the parent play. 

In all probability, there is present in either one cj'cle or the other, 
certain parent plays whose metrical forms are no longer common to both 
cycles. The determination of such plays is, of course, more or less problem- 
atical, but there still remain numerous similarities in structural outline 
and in verbal agreement which may be noted as indicative of the original 
identity of the two c^^cles. 

16 Mr. Pollard, {op. cil. EETSES 71:intro. xxvi),believes that they "belong to the period when the York 
plays were being incorporated into the cycle." According to Professor Gayley {ibid. 134, n. 1), they 
represent early alternatives of York plays, later discarded in York. He also includes the Peregrini in 
this group. 

1' See Miss Smith, ibid, intro. xxv. The play is described thus: ubi Pilatus et alii milites ludebant ad 
talos pro vestimentis Jesu et pro ejs series mittebant et ea parciebantur inter se. 

1' Professor Hohlfeld {Anglia 11:299 ff.), believes that the Towneley play of the Talents is an imita- 
tion of the condensed accounts now extant in York XXXIV and XXXV, but it seems more likely that the 
York scenes represent later revisions of the parent play, now extant in part in the Towneley cycle. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE SITUATION IN THE INDIVIDUAL PLAYS 

We find in the extant plays of York and Towneley many similarities 
which bear out the theory of an original identity of the two cycles. 
Because of probable independent revisions in both cycles after the separa- 
tion of the two, the similarities naturally differ in degree and kind. Accord- 
ingly, nearly every play presents a separate problem. Some plays show 
practical verbal agreement while certain other plays contain very little 
parallel phraseology but reveal a close similarity in structural outline. 
Slight revisions in either one cycle or the other or in both may account 
for the minor differences discernible in the former group of plays, whereas 
thorough revisions in either one cycle or the other or in both must be con- 
ceded in order to explain the extensive differences occurring in the latter 
group of plays. 

The possibility of independent revisions in both cycles after the separa- 
tion need offer no difffculties. The large number of stanzaic forms in the 
English mysteries indicates the existence of early and late plays. ^ Creize- 
nach- and Chambers^ suggest that "to the end of the history of the 
religious drama, the older tj^pes, which it threw out as it evolved, coexisted 
with the newer ones"; Mr. Davidson^ is of the opinion that "a cycle con- 
tains the plays, independent or revised, of many writers of different periods 
and schools," that "it contains the work of many authors, writing on 
related subjects in different styles and metres. In this work," he continues, 
'Very possibly every generation for two centuries is represented." Pro- 
fessor Hohlfeld^ speaks of the revisions through which it is certain both 
the York and Towneley cycles passed, by which it became possible, he 
claims, for an original version to be changed to an unrecognizable degree. 
]Mrs. Frank, in her recent article,^ concludes that "we have in Towneley 
as in York a collection of plays each subjected, at least during its formative 
period, to the vicissitudes of life within its particular craft." 

Because of probable changes w^hich both cycles were undergoing all 
the time, we shall not be surprised if w^e find in some plays little evidence 
conclusively indicative of an original identity. In such cases, generally 
speaking, late metrical forms or extensive elaborations enable us to 

1 Ten Brink, History of English Literature 2:253-87; Pollard, The Towneley Plays EETSES 71:intro. 
xxiii ff.; Gayley, Representative English Comedies l:intro. xxiii-xxxi; Plays of Our Forefathers 125-204; 
Bunzen, Ein Beitrag ziir Kritik der Wakefielder Mysterien 7 ff.; Cady, op. cit. Jour. Eng. Cer. Phil. 10:572 ff. 

2 Creizenach, Geschichte des neueren Dramas 1:218. 

' Chambers, The Medieval Stage 2:96; see also ch. xxii. 

« Davidson, op. cit. 172-73. 

' Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:256. 

6 Mrs. Frank, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 15:187. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 53 

identify the plays as revisions in one of the two cycles; nor is it unlikely 
that certain plays underwent independent revisions in both cycles. 
A detailed comparison of the two cycles reveals six groups of plays : 

(1) To the first group belong the plays which still remain identical in 
the two cycles: Pharaoh, the Doctors, On the Way to Calvary, the Harrowing 
of Hell, the Resurrection, the Last Judgment. 

(2) The plays in the second group are those which still retain, in spite 
of a later revision on the part of either York or Towneley, a similarity 
in underlying structure, together with isolated passages showing parallel 
phraseology occasionally retaining even common rhyme words: Joseph's 
Trouble about Mary, the Magi, the Flight into Egypt, the Massacre oj the 
Innocents, the Incredulity oj Thomas, the Creation group, the Prophetic 
Prologue to the Annunciation, the Shepherds, John the Baptist, Lazarus, 
the Conspiracy, the Last Supper, the Agony and Betrayal, the Crucifixion 
and Burial, the Appearance of Jesus to Alary Magdalene, the Peregrini. 

(3) The plays in the third group are those which show a similarity in 
underlying structure, together with isolated passages showing parallel 
phraseology but without the retention of common rhyme words :'^ Noah 
and the Flood, the Annunciation, the Visit to Elizabeth, the Examination 
before Caiaphas, the Ascension. 

(4) The plays in the foiurth group are those which show a similarity in 
underlying structure, but are unaccompanied by passages showing signifi- 
cant or extensive similarities in phraseology: Cain and Abel, Abraham and 
Isaac, the Condemnation. 

(5) The play in the so-called fifth group is the only corresponding play 
in the two cycles which reveals little similarity in structural outline and 
no agreement in phraseology, namely, the Purification. 

(6) The plays in the sixth group are those which are included in but 
one of the cycles; (a) plays in Towneley but not in York are: Isaac, Jacob, 
the Prophetae, Octavian, the Hanging of Judas, the Talents; (b) plays in 
York but not in Towneley are: the Temptation and the Fall (in part), 
Expidsion from Paradise, the Nativity, the Temptation, the Transfiguration, 
the Woman Taken in Adultery, the Entry into Jerusalem, Peter's Denial, 

^ the First Trial before Pilate and Pilate's Wife's Dream, the Trial before 
Herod, the Descent of the Holy Ghost, the Death of Mary, the Appearance 
of Our Lady to Thomas, the Assumption and Coronation of Our Virgin. 

First Group of Plays 

In the first group, we have the plays which, in their extant versions, 
are still practically identical. In spite of independent revisions through 
which other plays passed after the separation of the two cycles, these 
plays retain practically their parent cycle form. They may, therefore, 

' In isolated cases, a single rhyme word is often retained. 



54 MARIE C. LYLE 

be considered direct evidence of the original identity of the two cycles. 
The minor differences^ do not affect the question; they indicate merely 
slight changes introduced after York and Towneley became independent 
C3''cles. 

Second Group of Plays 

In the second group, we have the plays which show a similarity in 
structural outline and a verbal agreement in isolated passages with the 
retention of many common rhymes. Later metrical forms, elaboration of 
details or expansion of phraseology indicate that the play in either York 
or Townele}^ as the case may be, underwent revision. In some cases, 
the corresponding play in the other cycle may approximately represent 
the parent play itself. 

Joseph's Trouble about Mary 

The play of Joseph's Trotible receives greater elaboration in York and 
Towneley than in an}'- of the other English cycles. Only York and Towneley 
include the story of Joseph's marriage^ and the testimony of the puellae 
as to Mary's chastity. 

Close similarities in structural outlines and extensive parallels in phrase- 
ology^" exist in the York and Towneley plays: 

(1) Joseph marvels at Mary's condition. Compare T 11. 155-60 to Y 11. 43-60. 
Note especially the retention of one common rhyme word, wroght, and the close paral- 
lelism of the following lines: 

My wyfe . . . is grete and she with My 5onge wife is with childe full grete. 

child. 
what has she wroght? How t>is l^ing may be wroght, 

Therfor myi7i is it noght. J^e childe certis is noght myne. 

(2) Joseph, old and weak, bemoans having married so young a woman. Compare 
T 11. 161-70 and Y 11. 5-23, 195-97. Note especially the retention of the common 
rhyme words, elde, vnwelde, wyfe, hanne. 

(3) Joseph, believing himself beguiled, decides to question Mary. Compare 
T 11. 172-73 and Y 11. 42-43, 65; also T 11. 177-78 and Y 11. 71-74. 

som othere has she tane, I am begiled; how, wate I no3t. 

she is with chyld, I wote neuer how. My 3onge wiffe is with childe . . . 

And why ne walde som yonge man ta 
her. 

Bot now then wyll I weynd hyr to, Of my ivendyng wit I nowe warne, 

And wytt who owe that foode. Neuere \)e lees it is mjme entente 

To aske hir ivho gate hir l^at barne, 
5itt wolde I witte fayne or I wente. 

' These differences have already been presented in detail by Herttrich, op. cit., Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 
11:219 ff.. Pollard, op. cit. intro. xv ff. 

' In the Hegge plays, the story of Joseph's marriage occurs in Play X, Mary's Betrolhment. 
"• Mr. Hemingway {Sludy of the English Nativity Plays, intro. xliii) considers that the verbal simi- 
larities noted by Professor Hohlfeld (,op. cit. Anglia 11:290) are not significant since they are paralleled 
in the other cycles, but many agreements not hitherto noticed are presented below, and many of these 
do not occur in the other cycles. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 



55 



(4) Joseph greets Mary and reproaches her. Compare T 11. 179-80 and Y 11. 
75, 92. 

hayll, mary, and well ye be! All haylel God be here-inne! 

(Puellae scene interpolated.) 
why, bot woman, what cJiere with the? Gramercy, Marie, saie what chere. 

(5) Joseph questions Mary about the child. Compare T 11. 186-96 and Y 11. 103, 
158-59, 167-68, 177-78, 188-89, 199-200. 



Whos is that chyld 
Sir, Goddis and youres 



She is with childe, Whos is't Marie? 
Sir, Goddis and youres 



(6) Mary protests her innocence. Cpmpare T 11. 203-6 and Y 11. 215-16, with 
the retention of the rhyme word, filid. 

ff or fleshly was I neuer fylyd With synne was I netier filid 

(7) Joseph's incredulity. Compare T 11. 197-202 and Y 11. 169-76, with the re- 
tention of the rhyme word, spill; also T 11. 167-69 and Y 11. 195-97, with the common 
rhyme word, gane. 

The gams fro me ar gane J)ase games fra me are gane 

(8) Joseph tells the story of his marriage, which he now regrets. Compare T 11. 
245-50 and Y 11. 25-30, with the retention of three rhyme words, wand, hande, ment; 
also T 11. 255-61 and Y 11. 32-34; T 11. 161-63 and Y 11. 35-36, 21-23, with the retention 
of one rhyme word, banne. 



For J5are-in was ordande 

Vn-wedded men sulde stande, 

Al 'sembled at asent; 

And ilke ane a drye wande 

On heght helde in his hand. 

And I ne wist what it ment. 

Itt florisshed faire, and floures on 

sprede. 
And they saide to me forthy 
J3at with a wiffe I sulde be wedde. 
For bittirly J)an may I banne 
Itt was to me a bad bargamie. 

(9) The testimony of the puellae as to Mary's innocence. Compare T 11. 284- 
92 and Y 11. 108-27, with the retention of two rhyme words, wight, night. Joseph re- 
fuses to accept their excuses, claiming that Mary's visitor was a man in the likeness 
of an angel. Compare T 11. 208-14, 294-98 and Y 11. 162-66, 135-37, with the reten- 
tion of one rhyme word, can. 



Thay gaf ich man a white wand. 

And bad vs bere them in oure hande, 

To off re with good intent; 

Thay offerd thare yerdys vp in tyde, 

I wyst not what thay ment. 

In my hand it f lory shed with blome; 

Then sayde thay all to me. 

That the behovys wed mary the may. 

That euer I wed so yong a wyfe. 

That bargan may I ban. 



1 askyd ther women who that had 

done. 
And thay me sayde an angell sone, 
syn that I went from hame; 
An angell spake with that wyght, . 
And no man els, bi day nor nyght, 
Thay excusyd hir thus sothly, 
To make hir clene of hir foly. 



Say, maidens, how es J)is? 

For trulye her come neuer noman. 

Of this swete wight. 
And was neuere fro hir day nor nyght, 
Na, here come noman in . . . 
Saue an Angell. 



(10) Joseph goes to the wilderness. Compare T 11. 321-22 and Y 11. 239-40. 

(11) The angel appears to Joseph in his sleep and tells him to return home; that 
Mary's son is conceived of the Holy Ghost. Compare T 11. 333-34 and Y 11. 267-68, 
with the retention of one rhyme word, gast. 



She hase consauyd the holy gast. 



Itt is consayued of pe haly gast. 



56 MARIE C. LYLE 

(12) Repenting, Joseph praises God and asks Mary's forgiveness. Compare 
T 11. 347-51 and Y 11. 289-93. 

flfor thy to hir now wyll I weynde, Me bus pray hir halde me excused, 

Saie, Marie wife, how fares J^ou? 

A, jnary, wyfe, what chere? pe hettir, sir for yhou. 

The better, sir, that ye ar here. Why stande yhe Jjare? come nere. 

(13) Joseph feels "light." Compare T 1. 368 and Y 1. 286. 

Professor Hohlfeld's^^ conclusion that the Towneley play represents a 
general imitation of the York version with a borrowing of isolated passages 
is not borne out by a comparison of (1) the metrical situation, (2) the 
verbal expansion of certain passages in the York play, or (3) the treatment 
of certain incidents. 

(1) The York strophe, rhj^-ming ababccbccb, is a later modification of the simple 
rime couee in which the Townelej' play is composed. 

(2) In order to meet the exigencies of a more complicated rhj^me scheme, it is 
apparent that certain York strophes expanded the simpler rime couee stanzas of the 
Towneley play. Compare especially T 11. 155-60 and Y 11. 43-60; T 11. 161-70 and 
Y 11. 5-24; T 11. 173-74 and Y 11. 42-65; T 11. 177-78 and Y U. 71-74; T 11. 179-80 and Y 
11. 75-92; T 11. 284-93 and Y 11. 108-27; T 11. 349-51 and Y 11. 291-94. 

(3) The York Joseph refuses to be pacified so easily as does the Towneley 
Joseph by Mary''s explanation of her condition. He asks for the parentage of her 
child no less than six different times, whereas the Towneley Joseph asks but three 
times. This expansion may be due, in part, to the dramatic presentation of the 
puellae in York as against the narrative presentation in Towneley. Perhaps, Burton's 
failure to mention the puellae in the description of the plaj^ in the 1415 list'^ indicates 
that, as speaking characters, they were not originally present in the York plaj-. 

These instances indicate an elaboration by York of the simpler Towne- 
ley play, and therefore, the Townelej'- play is not to be regarded as "an 
adaptation of an earlier York play," as Professor Gay ley ^^ suggests, but as 
the earlier play itself, or the play nearer the parent-cj^cle version than the 
extant York play. 

The parallels with true-Coventry,^^ sometimes corresponding to the 
extant York play and at other times to the extant Towneley play, may 
be explained by assuming that the true-Coventry play came into contact 
either with the parent play itself or with a subsequent revision of it. 

The Magi 

In York, the incidents of the Magi or the Coming of the Three Kings 
and Their Oblation are divided into two separate plaj's, whereas they are 
included in a single play in Townele3^ Numerous similarities in structural 
outlines and phraseology exist : 

11 Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:290. 

12 The description given the play in Burton's 1415 list (Smith, op. cit. intro. xx) is: Maria, Josep volens 
dimitlere earn, angelus eis loquens vt transeant vsque Bedlem. 

19 Gayley, Plays of Our Forefathers 134, n. 1. 

1* These parallels have been pointed out by Professor Cady, op. cit. PMLA 24:438 ff. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 57 



(1) Herod, boasting of his beauty and power, orders his messenger to search 
the realm for miscreants. Compare Y PI. XVI, 11. 1-44 and T 11. 1-66. 

(2) In the meeting of the three kings and their decision to ride on together, one of 
the kings prays God to "grant him grace of company" and declares that he will not 
cease to search until he has discovered the meaning of the star. Compare T 11. 91-92 
and Y 11. 19-20 for verbal similarities, with the retention of one rhyme word, companye; 
also T 11. 98-99 and Y II. 22-24, with the retention of two rhj'-me words, 7nene, schene; 
also T 11. 145-48 and 157 and Y 11. 37-40; also Y 11. 53-54 and T II. 163-64 with the 
retention of one rhyme word, fere. 

Also I pray the specyally, God graunte me happe so ]3at I myght 

Thou graunt me grace of company. Haue grace to gete goode companye. 

To wyt •what this siarne may mene, With thy sterne schynyng schene, 

That has me led, with bemj'S schene, For certis, I sail noght cease, 

Tille I tvitte what it mene. 

lordyngs, Sirs, with youre wille, I wolde yow 

I pray you tell me with good chere praye 

wheder ye iveynd, on this manere. To telle me some of youre entent. 

And where that ye haue bene; Whedir ye ivende for'the in this waye. 

Good sir, what cuntre cam ye fra? And fro what contre 3e are wente. ' 

Now, syrs, syn we ar semled here. Sir, of felashippe are we fayne, 

I rede we ryde togeder, in fere. Now sail we wende forth all in feere. 

(3) The messenger, returning to court, is reproached for his long absence. 
Herod's wrath is turned away from him, however, as soon as he learns of the meeting 
of the three kings, who, guided only by a star, are in search of a new-born child. See 
T 11. 259-89 and Y 11. 73-96. 

(4) Herod inquires into the reasons for the journey and concludes that the three 
kings must, indeed, be mad. Compare T 11. 385-86 and Y 11. 106-8 for verbal similari- 
ties, with the retention of two rhyme words, beforne, borne; also T 11. 292-94 and Y 11. 
110-13, with the retention of two rhj^me words, lad, jnad. 

lord, when that starne rose vs beforne, A sterne stod vs byforne, 
Ther by we knew that chyld was borne. That makis vs speke and spir 

Of ane Jjat is nowe borne. 

And certis, unwitty men 5e werre 
That new borne lad. To lepe ouere lande to late a ladde. 

When thare v/ytt in a sterne shuld be, Say when lost 3e hym? ought lange 

before? 
I hold thaym mad. All wyse men will wene 3e madde. 

(5) The prophecies are cited. The verbal similarities in the Balaam and Isaiah 
passages are close. Compare especially T 11. 205-6 and Y 11. 156-60, with the reten- 
tion of the two rhj-me words, thyng and sprynge. 

Certan, balaam spekys of this thyng, For Balaham saide a starne shulde 

spring 
That of lacob a starne shall spryng. Of Jacobe kynde, and t^at is Jewes. 

Compare also T 11. 417-25 and Y 11. 161-65, with the retention of the following words: 
Jsaia, mayden, shall, bere, Emanuell. 

(6) On the pretext of wishing to pay reverence to the child, Herod allows the 
three kings to pass on, but bids them come again on their way back. Compare T 11. 
483-88 and Y 11. 197-99 for verbal similarities, with the retention of one rhyme word, 
ty thyng (tythande in Y). 

Bot com agane with me to leynd. And comes agayne |)an me vntill. 



If it be sothe, this new tythyng, And telle me trulve youre tythande, 

Som worship wold I do that kyng. To worshippe hyni i)at is my will. 



58 



MARIE C. LYLE 



(7) The guiding star disappears from sight and the three kings kneel in prayer 
begging its return. Upon its reappearance, it stands still above their destination. 
Compare T 11. 506-8 and Y 11. 221-24 for verbal similarities. 

(8) The three kings make their respective offerings. Compare Balthazar's 
speech, especially, for verbal similarities, T 11. 555-58 and Y 11. 284-88, with the re- 
tention of one rhyme word, shalhe. Compare also T 11. 541-42 and Y 1. 277. 



In tokyn that thou dede shalbe, 



To thy grauyng this myr of me 

Resaue the tyll. 

hayll be thou 

That boytt of all oure hayll may bryng. 



But whan thy dedys ar done to dye is 

^i dette, 
And sen thy body beryed shalbe, 
This mirre will I giffe to pi grauyng. 



Ressauye it 



Hayll! barne t)at is best oure baylys to 
bete. 



(9) Mary tells of the miraculous birth of her son and gives the three kings her 
blessings. 

(10) Because of weariness, the three kings lie down. An angel appears to them 
in their sleep and bids them return home another way. This passage is verbally and 
metrically identical in both plays. Compare T 11. 595-606 and Y 11. 313-24. 



Syr curtes kyngys, to me take tent, 
And turne by tyme or ye be tenyd; 
from god his self thus am I sent 
To warne you, as youre faythfull freynd, 



how herode kyng has malyce ment. 
And shapys with shame you for 

sheynd; 
And so that ye no harmes hent. 
By othere ways god wyll ye weynd 
Into youre awne cuntre; 
And if ye ask hym boyn, 
ffor this dede that ye hatie done, 
youre beyld ay wyll he be. 



to 



Nowe curtayse kynges, to me take tent. 
And turne betyme or )e be tenyd, 
Fro God hym selfe pus am I sent 
To warne yow, als youre faithfull 

frende, 
Herowde the kyng has malise ment. 
And shapis with shame yow for to 

shende. 
And for pat )e non harmes shulde hente. 
Be othir waies God will ye wende 
Euen to youre awne contre. 
And yf ^e aske hym hone, 
Youre beelde ay will he be. 
For pis pat pe haue done. 



(11) The kings, in gratitude, thank God. Compare T 11. 614-16 and Y 11. 325-28 
for verbal similarities, with the retention of one rhyme word, thre. 



with hart enterely thank I the. 
That thyn angell sent tyll vs thre, 
And kend vs so. 



A! lorde, I loue Jje inwardly. 
Sirs, God has gudly warned vs thre, 
His Aungell her now herde haue I, 
And how he saide. 



(12) The kings separate and each goes his own way. 

The following differences may be explained by assuming that the 
Towneley play, composed in the "Btirns" measure, a metre of the parent 
cycle, 1^ represents the earlier version and the two York plays later 
revisions '}^ 

(1) In conforming to the exigencies of the rhyme scheme of the Northern Sep- 
tenar stanza, extra lines were apparently inserted by York, 
(a) Compare Y 11. 22-24 and T 11. 98-99. 

» See above, ch. Ill, 50 ff. 

" The similarities with true-Coventry, as pointed out by Professor Cady (op. cit. PMLA 24:446 S.) 
may be explained, as in the case of Joseph's Trouble (see above, p. 56), by assuming that true-Coventry 
came into contact with the parent play or a subsequent revision of it. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 59 



With thy Sterne schynyng schene, To wyt what this starne may mene. 

For certis, I sail noght cesse, That has me led, with bemys shene 

Tille I witte what it mene. 

(b) Compare Y 11. 106-8 and T 11. 385-86. 

A Sterne stud vs byforne, lord, when that starne rose vs beforne, 

That makis vs speke and spir Ther by we knew that chyld was borne. 

Of ane J)at is nowe borne. 

(2) In his revision, the York playwright, apparently, made numerous changes 
in subject-matter. In some cases, he added new material; in other cases, he omitted 
certain minor details, and in one or two instances even changed the fundamental 
outline of the plot. Such changes, however, are of slight importance and may be 
ascribed, for the most part, to one of two principles, either a desire for scriptural 
accuracy or an attempt at a more realistic portrayal of the incidents. 

The additions in the two York plays do not affect the main outlines of the plot; 
they are merely minor elaborations of essential details common to both cycles. 

(a) The York play adds a new character in the person of Herod's son, who appears 
in connection with the boasting of the soldiers. Herod sings their praises to his 
youthful son, who, in turn, boasts that he, too, will kill "bad fellows." 

(b) When the messenger tells Herod that the three kings are about to arrive at 
court, Herod, evidently to inspire in them a feeling of awe, arrays himself richly. 
This is undoubtedly an attempt at a more realistic portrayal. 

(c) The three Ycrk kings, in addition to the prophecies quoted, add that Jesus 
will be king of Judea and indeed king over all people. Perhaps this is an attempt at 
scriptural accuracy, since the same answer is given in Matthew^'' and the Apocryphal 
Gospel of James.^^ 

(d) Herod's anger is more pronounced in York than in Towneley. 

(e) Herod's invitation to the three kings to return again that way is preceded by the 
advice of his counsellors bidding him not act deceitfully. After the departure of 
the kings, Herod rejoices over the trap prepared for them. These elaborations are 
lacking in Towneley. 

(f) An additional character is seen in the maid of the York play, who stands at 
the door of the stable and bids the kings enter. This is an evident attempt at a more 
realistic presentation. 

The omissions are, for the most part, in line with the simpler scriptural account 
and do not materially affect the framework of the play. 

(a) The York Herod does not impose upon his subjects the worship of Mahomet 
as does the Towneley Herod. 

(b) The three kings in the York play do not go into so much detail in giving the 
information concerning their names, realms, and purpose in coming, as do the Towne- 
ley kings. 

(c) York omits the recalling of Balaam's prophecy at the time of the meeting of 
the kings and transfers it to the questioning by Herod. 

(d) The York kings do not discuss the significance of their gifts when they first 
meet, or the possible influence of astronomy upon the appearance of the guiding star. 

(e) The adieux of the Towneley kings are long and elaborate, whereas the fare- 
well speeches of the York kings are short. 

Differences are seen in the following instances. Since, however, they are merely 
minor details with which two of the chief incidents are elaborated, they do not affect 
the main development of the play. 

" Gospel of Matthew ch. II, 1-12. 

18 Apocryphal Gospel of James ch. XXI, in Cowper, Apocryphal Gospels, 



60 MARIE C. LYLE 

(a) The three kings appear before Herod, not at the messenger's command as in 
Towneley, but of their own free-will, thinking that perhaps Herod can aid them in 
finding the child. 

(b) The prophecies are quoted to Herod by the three kings, instead of by the 
counsellors from their learned books, as in Towneley. Apparently, this is an attempt 
at scriptural accuracy, since in the Apocryphal Gospel of James, Herod examines the 
magi concerning the meaning of the star.^^ 

It thus seems probable that the single play which is noted by Burton 
in his 1415 list-^ refers to the play now extant in the Towneley cycle, and 
that the two plays, which are entered in the second Burton list^^ and 
referred to in a 1431 record of the Goldsmiths,^^ refer to the two plays 
now extant in the York cycle. 

It may still be asked how the Towneley play came to include the single 
Northern Septenar strophe in which the angel makes his appearance and 
gives the warning to the sleeping kings. According to Professor Hohl- 
feld's supposition,^^ it was incorporated by the Towneley playwright who 
wrote in general imitation of the York play. Since the separation of the 
two cycles apparently took place while certain plays of the parent cycle 
were being rewritten in the Northern Septenar metre,^* it may be that 
the isolated Northern Septenar strophe represents an instance in which a 
single lyrical passage was turned into the newer and more attractive metre 
before the separation. 

The Flight into Egypt 

The Flight into Egypt is closely connected with the Massacre and is 
usually included as one of its incidents. York and Towneley alone agree 
in developing it into a separate play and making it precede the Massacre.^^ 

Close similarities in structural outlines and phraseology exist : 

(1) An angel awakens Joseph who wonders at its sweet voice. Compare T 11. 
1-13 and Y 11. 37-42. 

Awake, Joseph, and take intent! . Wakyn, Joseph! and take entente! 

Thou ryse, and sleep nomarel My sawes schall seece thy sorowe sare, 



fior thou shall no harmes hent. Be noght heuy, J)i happe is hentte, 



And rew it wonder sare. |Dare-fore I bidde t>e slepe no mare. 

A! myghtfull god, A! myghtjull lorde, what euere t»at 

What euer this ment, mente? 

so swete of toyn? - So swete a voyce herde I neuere ayre. 

19 Cowper, loc. cil. 

2" See Burton's 1415 list in Smith, op. cit. intro. xxi. 
21 See Davies, Municipal Records of the City of York app. 233. 

«See Sellers, York Memorandum Book, Surtees Society 125: 123-24; see also intro. slix. 
ssHohlfeld. op. cit. Anglia 11:293. 
" See above, ch. II, p. 46. 

M The same situation is seen in the Beverley list. See Beverley Records, Selden Society; Furnivall 
Miscellany 218; Chambers, op. cit. 2:340. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 



61 



(2) The angel bids him not fear; that he is an angel sent to warn him against 
Herod. Compare T 11. 40, 14-28 and Y II. 48-62. 



Ther of haue thou no drede; 

lo Joseph, it is I, 
An a7tgel send to the. 

hens behufys the hy, 
And take with the mary, 
for herode dos to dy 
All knaue chyldren, securly, 
ivithin two yere that be 
Of eld, 

Where may we beyld? 
Tyll egypp shall thou fare, 
with all the myght thou may. 



Joseph, haue pou no drede, 

For I am sente to pe, 

Gabriell, goddis aungell bright, 

Is comen to bidde |3e flee 

With Marie and hir worthy wight; 

For Herowde Jae kyng gars doo to dede 
All knave childer in ilke a stede, 
With ^eris twa 
l:)at are of olde 

In Egipte shall 36 beelde, 
Tille I witte |3e for to saie. 



(3) Joseph, grieving for Mary, tells her that they must flee. Compare T 11. 55-8, 
62 and Y 11. 84-6, 90. Note especially the following verbal similarities, with the re- 
tention of two common rhj^me words. 



Mary, my darlyng. 

A! leyf Joseph, what chere? 

ff or-thi behofes us fie. 



Mary, my doughter. 

A! leyf Joseph, what chere? 

Ther is noght ellis but us most flee. 



(4) Mary can not understand the reason for the flight. Joseph tells her of the 
angel's message, and she laughs and trembles in her fear. Compare T 11. 79-85 and 

Y 11. 103-7. Note especially the retention of two rhyme words, care and dare, and the 
verbal similarity in the line, / lurk and dare (T 1. 83), and / durk, I dare (Y 1. 105). 

(5) It is difficult for Mary to understand why she should be deprived of her son. 
Compare T 11. 79-88 and Y 11. 137-43; 67-9; 156-58, with the retention of five rhyme 
words, sare, ill, spill, care, hare. 

(6) Joseph begs Mary to be quiet, saying that they must pack their "gere" 
im.mediately. Compare T 11. 114-16; 161; 41 and Y 11. 147-50, with the retention of 
the three rhyme words, be, dynne, wynne and the similar phrases, We! leue Marie . . . 
lat be; leue of thy dynne (Y) and let be thy dyn (T); also T 11. 120-21 and Y 11. 159-60, 
with the retention of the common rhyme word, gere, and the common use of the fol- 
lowing words, tytt, pak and oure. 

(7) Mary complains about carrying the child. Compare T 11. 129-30; 133 and 

Y 11. 162-64, with the retention of the one rhyme word, bere, and the common use of 
the words, God wote. 

Certain York passages appear to be verbal expansions of simpler Towne- 
ley passages: 



A! myghtfull god, 
What euer this ment, 

so swete of toyn? (T 11. 11-13) 



A! myghtfull lorde, what euere laat 

mente? 
So swete a voyce herde I neure ayre. 
But what arte J^ou withsteuen so 

shylle, 
}dus in my slepe Jaat spekis me till. 
To me appere, 
And late me here 

What iDat tou was? (Y 11. 41-47) 

(1) The lines of the following Towneley passage have been split into separate 
parts by the York playwright at different points in the presentation: 



62 



MARIE C. LYLE 



My son? alas, for care! 

who may my dollys dyll? 
wo worth fals herode are! 

my son why shuld he spyll? 
Alas! I lurk and dare! 
To slo this barne I bare, 

what wight in warld had wyll? 
his hart shuld be full sare 
Sichon for to fare, 

That neuer yit dyd yll, 

Ne thoght. (T 11. 79-91) 



His foo, alias! what is youre reede, 
Wha wolde my dare barne do to dede? 
I durk, I dare, 
Whoo may my care 

Of balls Wynne? (Y 11. 103-7) 
Alias! why schulde I tharne 
My sone his liffe so sweete, 
His harte aught to be ful sare. 
On slike a foode hym to forfare, 
]3at nevir did ill 
Him for to spille. 

And he ne wate why. (Y 11 137- 
43) 
Alias! what ayles hym for to spille 
Smale 5onge barnes t^at neuere did ille 
In worde ne dede. (York 11. 67-69) 
Alas! Joseph, for care! 
Why shuld I forgo hym. 
My dere barne pat I bare. (Y 11. 
156-58) 

(2) The following York passage shows an expansion in the phraseology of the 
simpler Towneley passage: 



We! leue Marie, do way, late be, 
I pray J)e, leue of thy dynne. 
And fande J^e furthe for to flee 
Away with hyme for to wynne. (Y 11. 
147-50) 



ffor-thi let be thi dyn 

And cry. 
how shall we theder wyn? (T 11. 114- 
16) 



(3) In his command to Mary to make ready their "gere," the York Joseph 
mentions the articles which he must carry, whereas no mention is made of them in the 
Towneley play. 



Ther is noght els to say 

bot tytt pak vp oure gere. 
120-21) 



(Til. 



J)at swete swayne yf Jdou saue. 
Do tyte, pakke same oure gere, 
And such smale harnes as we haue. 

Bot god it wote I muste care for all, 
For bed and bak, 
And all pe pakke 

|3at nedis vnto vs, 
It forthers to fene me 
J)is pakald bere me bus, 
Of all I plege and pleyne me. (Y 11. 159-70) 

Accordingly, the Towneley play is not to be regarded as an imitation^^ 
or adaptation-^ of an earlier York play, but as the earlier play itself, of 
which the York play represents a later revision. Thus, the revision easily 
explains the difference in the conception of Joseph's character in the two 
plays. Joseph in the York play is not, as Professor Cady states,^^ entirely 
different in character from Joseph in the Towneley play; he is not "all 
sympathy and patience with Mary": 

(1) At the beginning of the play, Joseph, weak and weary, bitterly bemoans his 
fate. 



M Hohlfeld, op. cii. Anglia 11:293. 

*' Gayley, Plays of Our Forefathers 134, n. 1. 

28 Cady, op. cit. PMLA 24:449 ff. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 63 



(2) In strophe eleven, he complains about making the trip: 

And sertis I dred me sore 
To make my smale trippe, 
Or tyme Jjat I come Jsare. 

(3) A certain degree of ill-temper and impatience with Mary appears to be present 
in the abruptness of the answers vouchsafed by Joseph in strophes 14 and 15. Mary 
asks where they are going; Joseph replies that he has told her long before: "To 
Egipte tald I J)e lang are." Mary wishes to know where it is, and we can imagine 
that his reply, "what wate I?" was given impatiently. 

(4) In the last strophe, Joseph thanks God for granting him the grace of being 
strong again, whereas he was so weak before. 

Fundamentally, then, the characters of the two Josephs are conceived 
in the same vein: both are old and weak; both dread the journey and make 
it unwillingly; both "take it out" on their wives. The denunciations of 
the one, it is true, are much more bitter than those of the other, but this 
may be due to the differing conceptions of the two playwrights,^^ and 
offers no real objection to the view that the plays were originally identical. 
The York situation may simply be a part of that general movement, 
already noted in the Northern Septenar plays,^" which sought to give a 
more scriptural and reverential tone. In accordance with this view, the 
York playwright would naturally soften the bitter complaints of the 
Joseph in the parent play, perhaps now represented by Towneley. 

Massacre of the Innocents 

The similarities existing between the York and Towneley plays of the 
Massacre occur not only in structural outlines, as pointed out by Professors 
Hohlfeld^^ and Cady,^^ but also in the selection and arrangement of many 
details and in verbal agreement in isolated passages. 

In plot development, there is but one fundamental difference, that of 
Herod's attitude when he learns the result of the slaughter. In York, he 
is angry because of Jesus' escape, but in Towneley, believing that the 
child has been slain, he rejoices and rewards the soldiers. Except for this 
difference, the Wakefield author merely elaborates or makes slight additions 
to incidents presented in less detail in the York play -p 

Scene I, the opening scene of vaunting. 

(1) The Wakefield author makes the messenger, singing Herod's praises, precede 
his entrance. The messenger, however, merely repeats or amplifies what the York 

29 The same situation is seen in the York and Towneley plays of the Conspiracy, where there is a 
divergent development of Pilate's character. (See below, p. 78.) In this case, no one questions the 
probability that the Towneley play represents an earlier York version, which according to my theory 
formed a part of the parent cycle. 

3° See above, ch. II, p. 44 ff. 

>i Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:293. 

82 Cady, op. cit. PMLA 24:451. 

" See Mrs. Frank, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 15:181 ff. 



64 



MARIE C. LYLE 



Herod says in his opening speech. Each one calls for silence and "bowing at his 
bidding." Note especially T 11. 10-16 and Y 11. 6-16 for verbal similarities, with the 
retention of five rhyme words, mahowne, towne, bowne, bydyng, lewte. 



Herode, the heynd kyng/ by grace of 

mahowne, 
Of lury, lowrmontyng/ sternly with 

crowne, 
On lyfe that ar lyfyng/ in towre and 

in towne, 
Gracyus you gretyng/ commaundys 

you be bowne 
At his bydyng; 
luf hym with lewte, 
drede hym, that doughty! 



Se aught to dare and doute, 
And lere you lowe to lowte 
To me youre louely lorde. 
36 awe in felde and towne 
To bowe at my bidding, 
With reuerence and renoune 
As fallis for swilk a kyng 
}De lordlyest on-lyue 
Who her-to is noght bowne, 
Be all-myghty mahounde 
To dede I schall hym dryue! 



(2) The Towneley Herod, not content with the York Herod's assertion that he 
is lord of every land, gives a long list of the lands over which Herod holds dominion. 

(3) The Towneley Herod, as in the York version, calls for silence, and speaking 
of his anxiety concerning the three kings, asks for tidings, and is told by the messen- 
ger of their departure. Compare T 11. 145-47 and Y 11. 100-2 for verbal similarities 
with the retention of the two rhyme words, past, fast. 



Lord, thynk not ill if I/tell you how 
thay ar past; 

An othere way in hy/ thay soght, and 
that full fast. 



I saie for thay are past. 



3a, lord, in iaitht ful faste. 



Compare also T 11. 26-29 and Y 11. 41-45 for slight reminiscences in phraseology. 

(4) Herod, thereupon, vents his rage upon the messenger. This scene has been 
elaborated by the Wakefield author, but there can still be traced an identity in certain 
words. Compare especially T 11. 150, 163-64 and Y 11. 106, 119, 125. 

fly on the dewill! where may I byde? A! dogges, J)e deuell Jjou spede. 



ffy, losels and lyars! lurdans ilkone! 
Tratoures and well wars! .... 



Fy, on \)e ladde, Jdou lyes! 

Thou lyes! false traytoure strange. 

(5) Towneley elaborates the boasting of the knights as to what they would have 
done, had they met the three kings. 

Scene II, the advice of the counsellors. 

(1) Herod calls his council. In Towneley, the Wakefield author adds Herod's 
cominand to have his clerks search through Virgil, Homer, and everywhere else, save 
in legends, also in Boece and other tales, but not in service books, for "this talk of a 
maiden and a child." The quoting of certain prophecies at this point and Herod's 
rage because of the information given by them, are also additions. 

(2) With the counsellor's suggestion that all knave children under two years of 
age be killed, the similarity between the two plays is resumed. Compare T 11. 254-56 
and Y 11. 149-54 for verbal similarities, with the retention of the two rhyme words, 
dede, stede, and the use of the common phrases, all knaue chyldren, ilk a (othere in T) 
stede, knyghtys . . . biddis {ordeyn in T),thrtig outt bedlam {in Bedlem and all aboute in Y). 

(3) Herod, in gratitude, pledges his friendship. Compare T 1. 324, ye shall 
fynd me freyndly, and Y 1. 165, ^e shall fynde me youre frende. The incident is elab- 
orated in Towneley by Herod's rewarding the counsellor with a gift of land and 
castles and with the promise of making him pope some day. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 65 



Scene III, the command to kill the children. 

(1) The calling of the soldiers and their appearance in their best apparel is an 
elaboration by the Wakefield author. Especially significant is the actual command 
given the soldiers, which, fundamental to the plot development of both plays, occurs 
in similar phraseology. Compare T 11. 307-10 and Y 11. 149-54, with the retention of 
the two rhyme words, ahoute, clowte. 

To bedleni loke ye go/ And all the coste Gars gadir in grete rowte 

aboute, Youre knyghtis kene be-lyue. 

All knaue cliyldren ye slo/ and lordys. And biddis |)am dynge to dede 

ye shalbe stoute; All knaue childir kepte in clowte, 

Of yeres if they be two/ and within. In Bedlem and all aboute, 

of all that rowte To layte in ilke a stede. 
On lyfe lyefe none of tho/ that lygys 

in swedyll clowte. 

The willing acquiescence of the soldiers is another similarity to note. 

Scene IV, the killing of the children. 

(1) In York, two children are seized simultaneously and killed. In Towneley, 
three children are seized and killed, but a separate incident is made for each child. 
The details of the slaughter, however, are unvaried in their repetition, following 
almost exactly the order of incidents portrayed in the single slaughter scene of the 
two children in York. The seizure of the children by the soldiers occurs first, followed 
immediately by the cries of the mothers, the killing of the children, the lamentations 
of the mothers (each of these incidents is repeated for both the second and third 
child in Towneley), then the attacking of the soldiers by the infuriated mothers, and 
the soldiers' threat to tell Herod of the attack. 

Scene V, the soldiers' report to Herod upon the results of the slaughter. 

The different development, in the two cycles, of the fifth scene, ^^ as well 
as the other differences noted above, may be explained by assuming that 
the Towneley play, composed in the characteristic metre of the Wakefield 
author, represents an expanded revision of the parent play, now extant 
presumably in York.^^ 

The Incredulity of Thomas 

The Incredulity of Thomas is closely connected with the Peregrini and 
is usually included as one of its incidents, but York and Towneley differ 
from the other English cycles by developing it into a separate play. Simi- 
larities exist not only in structural outlines, as called attention to by Pro- 
fessor Cady,^^ but also in the use of minor details and parallel phraseology 
in isolated passages : 

(1) The assembled disciples mourn Jesus' crucifixion. 

(2) Jesus appears, but vanishes immediately. 

3* See above, p. 63. 

35 Even the true-Coventry play, believed to have the same liturgical source as the York and Towneley 
plays (Cady, op. cit. PMLA 24:451 f.) differs from the outline followed by them: (1) the preliminary 
scene of Herod's vaunting is not given; (2) Herod calls no council, but suggests the slaughter himself; 
(3) the soldiers remonstrate against the brutal order; (4) the lullabies of the mothers are added; (5) Herod, 
hearing of the flight, starts out in pursuit. 

36 Cady, op. cit. PMLA 24:464 ff. 



66 



MARIE C. LYLE 



(3) Jesus reappears, tells the disciples not to fear him, but to feel his flesh and 
bones, so that they may be convinced that he is not a spirit. Compare T 1. 96 
and Y 11. 31-32 for verbal similarities, also T 11. 94-99 and Y 11. 46-48, 55-60, with the 
retention of five rhyme words, se, tre, gone, hone, none, and other similar phrases. 



peasse emangys you ever ichon! 
it is I, drede you noght. 

Thou grauntt vs for to se 
The self body and the same/ 
the which that died on tre. 

That was wonte with you to gone/ 
and dere with dede you boght. 
Grope and fele flesh and bone/ 



Pees vnto yowe euermore myght be, 
Drede you no)t, for I am hee. 

her may se see 
pe same body ^at has you bought 
vppon a tre. 

For yowe Jjusgatis Jjanne haue I gone, 
Folous me grathely euerilkone, 
And se Jjat I have flessh and bone, 

Gropes me nowe, 
For so ne has sperite none. 



Sich thyng has goost none/ 

(4) Jesus tells the disciples to look at his wounds. Compare T 11. 100-3 and Y 11 
49-54, with the retention of two rhyme words, meet and feet. 



My rysyng fro dede to lyfe/ 
shall no man agane nioytt; 
Behold my woundes fyfe/ 
thurgh handys, syde, and foytt. 



J)at I am comen 30U here to mete, 
Behald and se myn handis and feete, 
And grathly gropes my woundes wete. 



(5) Jesus calls for meat and is brought honeycomb and fish. Blessing them, he 
bids the disciples eat with him. 

(6) Jesus tells of his crucifixion. 

(7) Jesus gives the disciples the power to bind and loose. Compare T 11. 148-51 
and Y 11. 89-96, with the retention of three rhyme words, me, pauste, be, and the use 
of other similar phrases. 



The grace of the holy gost to W3'n/ 

resaue here at me; 

The which shall neuer blyn/ 

/ gif you here pauste; 

whom in erth ye lowse of syn/ 

in heuen lowsyd shall be. 

And whom in erthe ye bynd therin/ 

In heuen bonden be he. 



And vnto 50U pe holy goste 

Releffe yow here. 
Beis now trewe and trowes in me, 
And here I graunte youe in youre paste, 
Whome Jaat ^e bynde bounden schall be 

And whome Jjat ^e lesid losed schalbe 

Euer more in heuene. 



(8) Thomas, mourning outside the chamber door, recalls the pains suffered by 
Jesus. 

(9) Thomas enters the chamber where the disciples are assembled, and Peter 
tells him that they have seen Jesus. 

(10) Thomas is incredulous, but the disciples insist that Jesus rose the third day 
and that he showed them his wounds. Compare T 11. 188-90 and Y 11. 139-41, with 
the retention of two rhyme words, lyue and fyue, and the use of the common phrase, 
his woundes fyue. Thomas believes that they were deluded by a spirit, but the disciples 
declare that no ghost could possess the flesh and bones which they actually felt. 
Compare T 11. 220-22 and Y 11. 151-56, with the retention of two rhyme words, bone 
and 7ione, and the use of similar phrases. 



Thomas, vnto the anone/ 
herto answere I will; 
Man has both flesh and hone/ 
hu, hyde, and hore thertill; 
sich thyng has goost none/ 
thomas, lo, here thi skyll. 



Nay Thomas, }30u haste misgone, 
For-why he bad vs euerilkon 
To grope hym grathely, bloode and 
bone 

And flessh to feele. 
Such thyngis, Thomas, hase sperit none, 

Jjat wote se wele. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 67 



Yet again, the disciples insist that they saw and felt the wounds. Compare T 11. 276- 
79 and Y 11. 163-68 for verbal similarities, with the retention of three rhyme words, 
scene, mene, betwene. 

flfor we say that we haue senef Are schalle I trowe no tales betwene. 

thou holdys vs wars then woode; Thomas, t>at wounde haue we seene. 

Ihesu lyfyng stod vs betwene/ 



I say ye wote neuer what ye mene/ 3a, )e wotte neuere what ^e mene, 

youre witte it wantis. 

Nevertheless, Thomas still doubts, saying that he will not be convinced until he, him- 
self, has felt the wounds. 

(11) Jesus appears a third time and bids Thomas feel his side. 

(12) Thomas believes and cries for mercy. Compare T 11. 316-19 and Y 11. 181- 
86 for verbal similarities, with the retention of three rhyme words, me, se, the. 

Mercy, ihesu, rew on me/ Mi lorde, my god, full wele is me, 

my hande is blody of thi Model A! blode of price! blessid mote Jjou be, 

Mercy, ihesu, for I se/ Mankynd in erth, behold and see 



Mercy, ihesu, I pray the/ Mercy, nowe lorde ax I the. 

(13) Jesus tells Thomas that they who have not seen and yet believe are more 
blessed than they who have to see in order to believe. 

The York play, composed in a metre of the parent cycle, the "Burns" 
strophe, probably represents the parent play, of which the extant Towneley 
play is a later revision. Thus, the differences between the two plays may 
be explained. 

(1) The Towneley play not only includes all of the incidents contained in York 
but adds to them: 

(a) Peter's remorse over his denial of Jesus is added. 

(b) After Jesus has given the disciples the power to bind and loose, contained 
in both versions, the Towneley apostles express a desire for greater stability of thought, 
and exult because of Jesus' triumph over death. 

(c) Additional arguments to convince Thomas are given in Towneley. 

(d) The Towneley Thomas makes a greater show of repentance. He even flings 
away his staff, hat, mantle, gay girdle, silk purse, and coat, in order that he may the 
sooner gain Jesus' mercy. 

(e) The incident at the beginning of the play, where Mary Magdalene appears 
with the news of the Resurrection, may also be an addition, but since it occurs in the 
rime couee, it is more likely that it represents a part of the parent cycle, perhaps at an 
earlier stage than that represented by the "Burns" measure. 

(2) The further elaboration of the Towneley play may also be seen in the verbal 
expansion of certain strophes. 

(a) Compare Y 11. 49-50 and T 11. 100-1. 

]3at I am comen 30U here to mete, My rysyng fro dede to lyfe/ 

Behalde and se myn handis and feete. shall no man agane moytt; 

Behold my woundes fj'fe/ 
thurgh handys, syde, and foytt. 

(b) Compare Y II. 91-93 and T 11. 148-51. 



68 . MARIE C. LYLE 



Beis now trewe and trowes in me, resaue here at me; 

And here I graunte youe in youre The which shall neuer blyn/ 

poste, I gif you here pauste; 

Whomet)at 3ebyndeboundenschall &e. Whom in erth ye lowse of syn/ 

in heuen lowsyd shall he. 

(c) Compare Y 11. 163-65 and T 11. 276-79. 

Are schalle I trowe no tales betwene. ffor we say that we haue sene 

Thomas, pat wounde haue ive seene. thou holdys vs wars then woode; 

3a, ^e wotte neure what )e mene. Ihesu lyfyng stod vs hetwene/ 

oure lord that with us yode. 

I say ye wote neuer what ye mene. 

The Creation Group 

The Fall of the Angels. — Structural and verbal similarities exist between 
the York and Towneley plays of the Fall oj the Angels: 

(1) The introduction by God. Compare especially T 11. 1, 7, 2, 8 and Y 11. 1,2,4, 
8 for verbal similarities, with the retention of two rhyme words, begynnyng and endyng. 

Ego sum alpha et o. Ego sum Alpha et O. vita via 

/ am without begynnyng. I am gracyus and grete, god withoutyn 

begynnyng. 

I am the first, the last also. / am formaste and fyrste, . . . 

My godhede hath none endyng. Vne[n]dande withoutyn any endyng. 

(2) God decides to create heaven, earth, and the angels. Compare Til. 13-18 and 
Y 11. 9-19 for verbal similarities, with the retention of four rhyme words, noght, will, 
fulfill, might. 

All raaner thyng is in my thoght. Sen I am maker vnmade, and most so 

of mighte. 



Withoutten me ther may be noght, 

And all sail be made euen of noghte. 

hit shall be done after my will, But onely t)e worthely warke of my 

wyll 
In my sprete sail enspyre J)e mighte 

of me, 
that I haue thoght I shall fulfill And in j^e fyrste, faythely, my thoghts 

And manteyn with my might. to fulfyll. 

(3) Lucifer is made the chief of the angels. Compare T 11. 71-72 and Y 1. 36 for 
verbal similarities. 

He may well hight lucifere, I name Jje for Lucifer, als bearer of 

ffor lufly light that he doth bere. lyghte. 

(4) The cherubim praise God for the work of creation. Compare T 11. 67-76 and 
Y 11. 41-44 for verbal similarities, with the retention of two rhyme words, mighte and 
noghte. 

Lord, thou art full mych of might, A! mercyfuU maker, full mekill es \>i 

mighte, 
that has maide lucifer so bright; Jjat all this warke at a worde worthely 

has wroghte, 

We lofe the, lord, with all oure thoght. Ay loved be l)at lufly lorde of his lighte, 
that sich thyng can make of noght. That vs thus mighty has made, l)at 

nowe was righte noghte. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 69 



(5) Lucifer boasts of his strength and beauty. Compare T 11. 83-96 and Y 11. 
49-83, also Play VI, 1. 7 for verbal similarities. 

of me commys all this light, All the myrthe |3at es made es markide 

this gam and all this gle; in me, 



Fro thaym is loste boJ)e game and glee 



My myrth is most of all. I am so mightyly made my mirth may 

noghte mys. 

(6) Still boasting, Lucifer seats himself on God's throne. 

(7) Without apparent intervention, Lucifer falls. 

(8) The devils cry out in terror as they fall.^^ 

(9) The devils lament in hell and reproach Lucifer as the cause of their fall. 

These similarities, as well as certain additions and omissions made in 
common by York and Towneley, may be explained by assuming that the 
extant Towneley play represents the parent play and that the extant 
York play represents a later revision of it. 

(1) Both the York and Towneley plays provide for the creation of the earth 
before the fall of the angels. Although the developments of the two scenes do not 
resemble each other, the difference may be adequately explained by the later revision 
of the York play. The mention in York of the creation of earth with that of heaven 
seems to be a reminiscence of the detailed account of the creation of earth day by 
day, given at the same point in the supposed parent play, now preserved presumably 
in the Towneley cycle. 

(2) The confusion in the York play, at the point where God grants to his angels 
not only heaven but earth also, and this before the creation of earth, is to be regarded 
as an indication of its earlier position in the parent cycle, which in spite of the attempt 
on the part of the York playwright to conform to the correct chronology of the inci- 
dents, was carried over into his revision. See 11. 22-30. 

(3) The failure of God to appear at the time of Lucifer's defiance in order to 
give the command to fall is in keeping with the Genesis and Exodus account, ^^ and is 
therefore another indication that York in its revision still made use of the parent play, 
preserved in Towneley. 

(4) The crying out of the devils as they fall assumes significance because of its 
absence in the other English plays. The actual crying out of the devils in the York 
play represents a more developed stage in dramatic technique than the stage direc- 
tions of the Towneley play. 

(5) One York passage appears to be an expansion of one of the Towneley couplets. 
Compare T II. 7-8 and Y 11. 1-8. 

I am without begynnyng, I am gracyus and grete, god withoutyn 

My godhede hath none endyng. begynnyng, 

I am maker vnmade, all mighte es in 

me, 
I am lyf e and way vnto welth wynnyng, 
I am formaste and fyrste, als I bid sail 

it be. 
My blyssyng o ble sail be blendyng, 
And heldand fro harme to be hydande, 
My body in blys ay abydande 
Vne[n]dande withoutyn any endyng. 

" Merely a stage direction in Towneley, Pollard's edition, EETSES 71:5. 
88 Genesis and Exodus (ed. Morris) EETS 7:12, 



70 MARIE C. LYLE 

The Creation to the Fifth Day. — Among the English cycles, little or no 
elaboration of incidents is seen in the Creation to the Fifth Day. The same 
incidents are treated in all, and York, Towneley, and Chester agree in 
isolated phrases.^^ 

The similarity is somewhat closer in York and Towneley, however . 

(1) The phraseology in two passages is closer than in Chester: 

(1) Compare T 11. 40-41, Y 11. 30-32, Ch p. 21, where the two rhyme words, be 
and see, are common to York and Towneley, but do not occur in Chester, 

(2) Compare T 11. 52-3, Y 11. 7-8 (Play III), Ch p. 21, where one rhyme word, 
night, is common to York and Towneley, but not used in Chester. 

(2) York and Towneley mention two details not found in Chester: 

(1) In York and Towneley, God remarks upon the work which he has undertaken: 
in Towneley, he expresses his satisfaction, (1. 42); in York, he speaks of the difficulty 
of the work (1. 27). 

(2) In York and Towneley, God blesses his work when all is finished. See T 11. 
59-60 and Y 1. 86. 

In my blyssyng, wax now ye; My blyssyng haue se all; 

This is the fyft day. the fift day endyd es. 

These similarities, slight as they are, may indicate that York and 
Towneley were originally identical, and the agreem-ents and disagreements 
with Chester may be explained by assuming that Chester came into con- 
tact with the parent play. 

Creation of Adam and Eve and Their Establishment in Paradise. — 
Because of close connection in subject-matter, the Creation of Adam and 
Eve and their Establishment in Paradise will be considered together. Certain 
verbal parallels between the York and Towneley plays may be pointed out : 

(1) Compare T 11. 165-66 and Y PI. Ill, 11. 21-23 for verbal similarities, with the 
retention of the two rhyme words, liknes and less. 

now make we man to oure liknes, To keepe Jiis worlde bothe more and 

that shall be keper of more & les. lesse 

A skylfull beeste Jjan will y make, 
Aftir my shappe and my likeness. 

(2) Compare T 11. 174-81 and Y PI. IV, 11. 1-12 for verbal reminiscences, with 
the retention of the three rhyme words, wise, paradise, place. 

I gif the witt, I gif the strenght, Adam and Eve, this is the place 

of all thou sees, of brede & lengthe; That I haue graunte you of my grace 

thou shall be wonder wise, To haue your wonnyng in; 

Myrth and loy to haue at will, Erbes, spyce, frute on tree, 

All thi likyng to fulfill, Beastes, fewles, all that ye see, 

and dwell in paradise. Shall bowe to you, more and myn. 

This I make thi wonnyng playce, This place hight paradyce, 

fful of myrth and of solace. Here shall your joys begynne. 

And yf that ye be wyse, 
Frome thys tharr ye never twynne. 
All your wyll here shall ye haue. 

»' Similarities occur in T 11. 31-32, Y 11. 19-20, Ch p. 20; T 11. 37-39, Y 11. 27-29, Ch p. 21; T 11. 43-45, 
Yll. 33-36, Chp. 21. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 71 



(3) Compare T 11. 198-99 and Y PL IV, 11. 83-84 for verbal similarities, with the 
retention of two rhyme words, wife and life. 

Herts thou adam, and eue thi wife, Thys tre that beres the Fruyte of Lyfe, 

I forbede you the tre of life. Luke nother thowe nor Eve thy wyf. 

Moreover, York and Towneley repeat the command not to eat of the 
tree of life. This repetition is not necessary to the action, and since it does 
not occur in the other English plays, its presence, together with the verbal 
parallels, may be regarded as significant. 

The Temptation. — Lucifer's speech, in which he plans to betray mankind, 
occurring just before the gap in Towneley and at the beginning of the fifth 
play in York, seems to indicate a further similarity. The gap in the manu- 
script occurs in the midst of the speech where Lucifer states his intention 
of betraying man. Both Professor Hohlfeld^*' and Mr. Pollard^^ think that 
this formed the beginning of the temptation, which together with the 
expulsion, they suggest, originally formed a part of the play. 

The similarities in details and phraseology betv/een the Creation plays 
of the two cycles may best be accounted for by supposing that Towneley 
preserves the text of the parent play and that York represents later revisions 
of it. The difference in the order of incidents as presented in Towneley, 
where the Fall of the Angels is embedded in the midst of the Creation 
scenes, and in York, where it precedes the Creation scenes, may at first 
appear to contradict this assumption, but it is fully explained by the fact 
that Towneley gives the arrangement of earlier vernacular literature, such 
as the Middle English Genesis and Exodus'^^ and Comestor's Historia 
Scholastica,^^ and that the York play follows the usual order of cyclical 
plays. The divergence between the two cycles, therefore, becomes not an 
inconsistency,^^ but a logical development entirely consistent with the York 
practice of revising according to Scripture and chronology .^° Moreover, 
Towneley represents an earlier stage in cyclical development than York, 
since it includes in one play and composed in two simple metres, the 
couplet, and the rime couee, incidents which are expanded by York into 
six plays, some of which are written in complicated stanzaic forms. 

Prophetic Prologue to the Annunciation 

Similarities in details and phraseology occur in the York and Towneley 
Prologues to the Annunciation: 

« Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:287. 

" Pollard, op. cit. EETSES 71:9, n. 

" Morris, loc. cit. 

^^ Cotnestor, Historia Scholastica, Migne Pat. xcviii. 

"So considered by Professor Cady, o/). cj7. Jl/od. P/ij7. 10:597, who concluded that the plays "were 
evidently added to each of these two cycles at a period when they were no longer connected." 
** See above, ch. II, p. 44. 



72 



MARIE C. LYLE 



(1) Adam's fall is reviewed by an expositor. Adam, in innocence, was placed 
in paradise, to enjoy it, but upon sinning was expelled and forced to suffer sorrow in 
hell. After a long period, however, God is willing to grant him grace. Compare 
T 11. 1-20 and Y 11. 1-12 for verbal similarities, noting especially T 11. 7, 11, 8 and Y 11. 
6, 7, 11, and 12. 

Then I hym put out of that place. And was putte oute fro paradys. 



ffor he has boght his syn full sore. 



Bot yit, I myn, I hight hym grace. 



And sithen 
sene. 



what sorouse sor warre 



Tille god graunted Jjam grace 
Of helpe, als he hadde hyght. 



(2) In order to deceive the fiend, God decides to have his Son assume manhood 
through a maiden of Abraham's line, thus fulfilling the promise made in olden da^'s 
to Abraham. Compare T 11. 30, 35-36 and Y 11. 20-24 for verbal similarities. 

(3) Other prophecies besides that of Isaiah are mentioned. Some of the York 
prophecies are found paralleled in the Towneley cycle, not in the prologue to the 
A nnunciation, as we should expect to find, but in the single quatrains at the beginning 
of the Doctor's play. Compare T 11. 1-4 and Y 11. 61-64. 

Compare also T 11. 9-12 and Y 11. 13-16 for verbal similarities, with the retention 
of two rhyme words, neven and steuen. 



Masters, youre resons ar right good. 
And wonderfull to neven, 
Yit fynde I more by abacuk; 
Syrs, lysten a whyle vnto my steuen. 



]Dan is it nedfull for to neven, 

How prophettis all goddis counsailes 

kende, 
Als prophet Amos in his steuen, 
Lered whils he in his liffe gun lende. 



Compare also T 11. 13-21 and Y 11. 73-9 for verbal similarities. 



Oure bayll, he says, shall turn to boytt, 
her-afterward som day; 
A zvande shall spryng fro I esse roytt, — 
The certan sothe thus can he say, — 
And of that wande shall spryng a flour e, 

And therapon shall rest and lyght 
The holy ghost, full mych of myght. 

(4) Gabriel is sent to the virgin Mary. 



More of t>is maiden me meves [he], 
This prophett sais for oure socoure, 
A wande sail brede of Jesse boure; 
And of i^is same also sais hee, 
Vpponne pat wande sail springe a 
floure, 

Wher-on pe Italy gast sail be. 
Compare T 11. 53-60, 76 and Y 11. 135-41 



for verbal similarities, with the retention of two rhyme words, Galile and be {by in T). 



Ryse vp, gabriell, and weynd 
vnto a maydn that is heynd. 
To nazareth in galilee, 
Ther she dwellys in that cytee. 
To a man of dauid house, 
Joseph also he is namyd by. 



'Fro God in heuen es sent,' sais he, 

'An aungell is named Gabriell 

To Nazareth in Galale, 

Where Jian a mayden mylde gon dwell, 

JDat w'ith Joseph suld wedded be.' 



Grayth the gabriell, and weynd. To god his grace t>an grayd. 

Undoubtedly, the terse, narrative account in the Towneley couplets 
represents, in part, the parent play, and the Northern Septenar redaction 
in York^^ a later revision of it. In the Towneley Prologue, the expositor 

16 Hemingway {English Nativity Plays intro. xliv) suggests a closer similarity between the Towneley 
Prologue and the Prologue to the Hegge play in which the Daughters of God plead the cause of man than 
seems apparent upon closer examination. He does not consider the parallel in the York cycle. Nor are 
the similarities with true-Coventry (Cady, op. cit. PMLA 24:435) as close as those between York and 
Towneley. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 73 

merely mentions the names of the prophets, whereas the actual prophecies 
are given in York. The revision also explains the additional prophetic 
material in the York play and the difference in the list of prophets cited. 

The Shepherds 

Common rhymes are found in the following passages of the York, 
Towneley, and true-Coventry plaj^s of the Shepherds : 

(1) Compare T XIII, 693-95, Y 73-75, TC 300-1 for verbal similarities, with the 
retention of two rhyme words, borne and morne. 

and prophetys A babe in Bedlem shulde be For thys same morne 
beforne, borne, Godis Sun ys borne 

Thay desyryd to haue sene Of whom l^an spake oure In Bedlem of a meydin fre. 
this chylde that is borne. prophicie trewe, 

And bad us mete hym ]3are 
l^is morne. 

(2) Compare T XIII, 665-66, Y 129-31 for verbal similarities with the retention 
of two rhyme words, gang and lang. 

To bedlem he bad that we shuld gang, God graunte vs levyng lange, 

I am full fard that we tary to lang. And go we hame agayne, 

And make mirthe as we gange. 

(3) Compare T XIII 659, Y 56, TC 268 for verbal similarities with the retention 
of the rhyme word, emong. 

ff or to syng vs emong. Itt menes some meruajde vs myrth and solas ys cum hus 
emang. among. 

(4) Compare T XII 341, TC 247-50 for verbal similarities with the retention of 
two rhyme words, told and wold. 

Also Isay says oure faders vs told, . . . now ys cum the tyme that old 

That a vyrgyn shuld pas of lesse, that fathers hath told 

wold 

Bryng furth A chyld of meydyn borne be he v/old. 

(5) Compare T XIII 710-11, TC 307-9 for verbal similarities with the retention 
of two rhyme words, mylde and chylde. 

hayll, yong child! Hajde, mayde-modur and wyff soo 

hayll, maker, as I meyne, myld! 

of a madyn so mylde! 

I haue nothyng to present with thi 
chylde. 

(6) Compare Y 93, TC 315 for verbal similarities with the retention of the rhj^me 
word, layde. 

Loo! whare ]Dat lorde is la3"de. For in a pore loggyn here art thow 

leyde. 

(7) Compare Y 40-2, TC 243-5 for verbal similarities with the retention of the 
rhj^me word, sight. 

Steppe furth and stande by me right, Whatt thyng ys yondur thatt 
And tell me l^an schynith soo bryght? 

Yf Jdou sawe euere swilke a sight. 

Yett sawe I nej^uer soche a syght. 



74 MARIE C. LYLE 

Professor Cady ascribes such passages of verbal similarity to the use 
of a common liturgical source."*^ but the presence of common rhymes 
seems rather to indicate the existence of a parent play, of which perhaps 
the three extant pla3^s represent later revisions. Certainly, the two Towne- 
ley plays, which occur in the characteristic metre of the Wakefield author, 
were composed after the separation of the two cycles,^^ as perhaps also 
the York play in the Northern Septenar."*^ Accordingly, the numerous 
differences in these plays are adequately explained. 

York and Towneley ftirther agree in two minor details wherein true- 
Coventry differs: (1) in the emphasis placed upon the citation of prophecies 
and (2) in the mention of a ''cracked" voice^° as the reason for the shepherd's 
failure in imitating the angels' voices. 

John the Baptist 

A similarity between the York and Towneley plays of John the Baptist, 
contrary to Professor Hohlfeld's conclusions^ that none existed, becomes 
apparent when the two plays are compared, as in the following outline,^^ 
with the simpler Ludus Coventriae play. 

(1) Since John in Ludus Coventriae does not mention any of the following points 
in his opening speech, their occurrence in both York and Towneley appears significant, 
especially in the light of certain verbal similarities. 

(a) The people, have wondered as to the possibility of John's being the Christ 
(Towneley) or a prophet (York). 

(b) John says that he can use only water for baptism, but that Jesus can use the 
Holy Ghost. Compare T 11. 41-46 and Y 11, 8-14 for verbal similarities, with the reten- 
tion of one rhyme word, gaste. 

In water clere then baptyse I When / haue, lord, in the name of the 

The pepyll that ar in this coste; Baptiste fe folke in watir clere, 

Bot he shall do more myghtely, l)an haue I saide l)at aftir me 



And baptyse in the holy goost. He schall giffe baptyme more entire 

in fire and gaste. 

(c) John says that he is only a messenger, a forerunner of Christ; that his pur- 
pose is to urge man to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Compare T 11. 25-28 and Y 11. 
15-18 for verbal similarities. 

I am send bot messyngere Jius am I comen in message right, 

And as forgangere am I send. And be fore-reyner in certayne. 

4' Cady, op. cit. PML.A 24:444 f. 

"See below, p. 101. 

" See above, ch. II, p. 30 S. 

60 Of. T XIII. 11. 656-59 and Y 11. 67-68. 

" Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:295. 

'2 The play of John the Baptist does not occur in Chester. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 75 

(2) In both York and Towneley, an angel" tells John of the coming of Jesus for 
baptism, whereas, in Ludus Coventriae, no angel appears. 

(3) John's fear and trembling in baptizing Jesus appear only in York and 
Towneley. Compare T 11. 181-84 and Y 11. 141-47 for verbal similarities, with the 
retention of two rhyme words, stande and drede. 

I iremyll and I whake for drede! A! lorde, I trymble \>er I stande, 

I dar not towche the with my hande, For the to touche haue I grete drede, 

Abyde, my lord, and by me stand. Now helpe me lorde, 

(4) The actual descent of the Holy Ghost and God's proclamation from the 
clouds occur in Ludus Coventriae, but not in York or Towneley. 

Mr. Pollard^^ suggests that the Towneley play belonged to the "period 
when the York plays were being incorporated into the cycle," and Professor 
Gayley^^ believes it was based upon an early alternative of the York play, 
later discarded. Professor Gayley's conclusion may be true, but metrical 
and stylistic similarities of the Towneley play and certain York plays, 
such as the Building of the Ark and the Last Judgment, may indicate that 
the extant Towneley play itself represents the parent version, of which 
the York play is a revision. If this be the case, then York, in its revision, 
as in the case of the Northern Septenar plays,^^ omitted incidents which 
did not have a scriptural basis, especially those which were derived from 
vernacular literature. 

(1) The strophe in which John apostrophizes Jesus' mother as the empress of 
hell was derived from a vernacular lyric. ^^ 

(2) John believes that the angel's refusal to allow him to meet Jesus signifies the 
necessity of having children brought to church for baptism. This is the didactic tone 
and manner of the homilies. 

(3) Jesus' presentation of a lamb to John, as a charm against adversity, is prob- 
ably to be ascribed to a vernacular source. 

Or it may be, that the simpler York play is the parent version and that 
the expanded Towneley play is a revision of it. 

Lazarus 

Although the York, Towneley, and Chester plays of the Raising oj 
Lazartis show many points of similarity, the relation between York and 
Towneley, in the portions unaffected by the gap in the York manuscript,^^ 
is closer: 

'3 One angel appears in York, but two in Towneley. 
" Pollard, op. cit. EETSES 71:intro. xxvi. 

65 Gayley, Plays of Our Forefathers 134, n. 1. 

66 See above, ch. II, p. 43 S. 

" See Taylor, The Middle English Religious Lyric Mod. Phil. 5:20. 
68 Smith, op. cit. 199. 



76 MARIE C. LYLE 

(1) Jesus tells the disciples that they will go to Bethany, but the apostles, fearing 
for his life, object. Compare T 11. 7-10, 18, Y 11. 117-22, Ch p. 225 for verbal similari- 
ties, with the retention of three common rhymes, stede, dede, agane, in York and 
Towneley, and one, agane, in Chester. 

I red not that ye thider go, A! lorde, |30U wote wele ilke Master, righte well thou 

The lues halden you for a tyde, may see 

thare fo; pe Jewes layte Jdc ferre and The Jewes woulde have 

I red ye com not in that nere, stoned thee, 

stede, To stone t>e vnto dede. And yett thou will againe. 
Or putte to pereles payne ; — 

ffor if ye do then be ye dede. And |30u to J)at same stede 

Will thou now go thider Covaites to gange agayne. 
agane? 

(2) Jesus tells the disciples that Lazarus sleeps and they, considering this a sign 
of recovery, suggest that they do not disturb him. Compare T 11. 19-21, Y 11. 131-34, 
and Ch p. 226 for verbal similarities. 

herkyn, breder, and takys And to 30U saie I more, Lazarre, my frende, is sleap- 

kepe; How ]3at Lazar cure frende inge. 

lazare oure freynde is fallyn Slepes nowe, and I therfore Theidder we muste be 

on slepe; With 30U to hym will goinge. 

The way till hym now will wende. 
we take. 

(3) When Jesus informs the disciples that Lazarus is dead, they decide to go with 
him. Compare T 11. 29-30, Y 11. 137-39 for verbal similarities, with the retention of 
two rhyme words, stede and dede. Although the same incident is presented in Chester, 
no verbal parallels with York or Towneley occur. 

Ne slepe may stand hym in no stede, I saie to ^ou, Lazare is dede. 

And for 30U all grete joie I haue, 
I say you sekerly he is dede. 5e wote I was noght in |)at stede. 

(4) Martha reproaches Jesus for not being present during her brother's illness, 
but he assures her that Lazarus will rise. 

(5) Martha thinks Jesus means at Doomsday, but he assures her that he is the 
"resurrection and the life." 

(6) Jesus sends Martha to fetch Mary, who, lamenting, tells him of their sorrow. 

(7) Mary leads Jesus to the grave, telling him that Lazarus has been buried four 
days. 

(8) Jesus prays to God and bids Lazarus step forth. 

(9) Lazarus, in gratitude, praises Jesus. *^ 

Certain expansions in phraseology and certain additions in material 
conforming to scriptural accounts lead to the conclusion that the Northern 
Septenar strophes of the York play are a revision of the Towneley couplets : 

As evidence of the metrical expansion by York in conforming the couplets to the 
more complicated rhyme scheme of the Northern Septenar: 

(1) Til. 9-10 and Y 11. 119-21. 

I red ye com not in that stede, To stone Jse vnto dede, 

ffor if ye do then be ye dede. Or putte to pereles payne; — 

And Jdou to ]Dat same stede. 

(2) T 11. 29-30 and Y 11. 137-40. 

'3 The gap in the York manuscript covers points 4-7 inclusive. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 77 

Ne slepe may stand hym in no stede, I saie to 30U, Lazare is dede, 

I say you sekerly he is dede. And for 30U all grete joie I haue, 

36 wote I was noght in Jaat stede. 

As evidence of additions in subject-matter by York: 

(1) In the beginning of the play, Martha and Mary, in distress over their brother's 
death, send for Jesus, who replies that the illness of Lazarus is not deadly but for the 
glorification of God's Son. This addition may have been made for dramatic complete- 
ness, or perhaps for the sake of scriptural fidelity. 

(2) The apostles' fear for Jesus' life is elaborated in York by Jesus' remark that 
they must work while it is still light. 

(3) In accordance with the principles underlying all Northern Septenar plays, 
which excluded any derogatory remarks concerning the Deity, the York Martha, instead 
of reproaching Jesus for his delay, praises him at his entrance. 

(4) At the close of the play, either omitted from the Towneley version because of 
the addition of the more interesting Wakefield material, or included in the York ver- 
sion because of a desire for scriptural accuracy, the York Martha and Mary thank 
Jesus, and he, blessing them, leaves for Jerusalem, 

At the same time, it should be noted that the Towneley strophes in 
double quatrains and those rhyming ababababcccdcd are probably later 
additions in that cycle to the original or parent play in couplets. In the 
York version, Lazarus tells about being buried for four days and testifies 
to the power of the Son of God, asserting that all who trust in him will not 
die.®" Upon such a basis, present presumably in the parent play, Towneley 
shows an extensive elaboration. Lazarus assures the people, in double 
quatrains,^^ that no wonder can be greater than his resiurrection ; that he 
has, indeed, been brought back from hell. At this point, the metre changes 
to that rhyming ababababcccdcd, and in a style closely resembling that 
of the Wakefield author,*'- Lazarus asserts that not the mightiest on earth, 
neither king nor knight, can escape death, and that in spite of their gay 
clothes, their flesh will be eaten away. Changing back to the double 
quatrains, he begs the people to amend their lives while they may, and 
then returning to the longer strophe form, he assures them that he has 
seen and heard many a marvel, and that they should take warning from 
his sufferings. The play closes with his cry to God for protection. These 
exhortations point to a later lyrical insertion, ^^ and do not in any way 
affect the fundamental structure of the play. 

The Conspiracy 
The Towneley Conspiracio corresponds to three plays in the York 
cycle, the Conspiracy proper, the Last Supper, and the Agony and Betrayal. 
In order to facilitate the necessary discussion and explanation of details, 
the Towneley play will be divided into three portions corresponding to 
the three play divisions of the York cycle. 

8» York Play XXIV, 11. 186-97. 

61 Towneley Play XXXI, 11. 103-10. 

«2 Bunzen op. cit. 15, suggests that the play was revised by the Wakefield author. 

"See Taylor, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 5:30, 32. 



78 MARIE C. LYLE 

The Conspiracy Proper. — Similarities in the structural outlines and 
phraseology of the York and Towneley plays of the Conspiracy proper 
have already been presented^^ and may be regarded as evidence of the 
original identity of the two plays. ^^ In fact, the Northern Septenar strophes 
of the Towneley play identify it as a play of the parent cycle. ^^ 

The York revision was probably made with two fundamental ideas in 
view: (1) the desire to bring the character of Pilate into closer conformity 
with scriptural accounts by making him kindlier in his attitude towards 
Jesus and anxious to avoid injustice ;^^ and (2) to present the details in as 
realistic a manner as possible. To the first of these reasons, the following 
changes may be ascribed: 

(1) The York Pilate immediately perceives the Jews' hatred of Jesus, whereas 
the Towneley Pilate joins with the high priests in their antagonism against him. 

(2) In Towneley, the warning to be more temperate is directed against Pilate 
by his subordinates, but in York, it is Pilate who bids the high priests be more temperate. 

(3) In keeping with the deceitfulness of Pilate and the high priests, in Towneley, 
Judas is thanked and praised because of his treachery, while in York he is cursed and 
maltreated. 

The following changes may be explained by the second reason: 

(1) Judas' reason for selling Jesus, although developed by similar details, is in- 
troduced at different points in the presentation. In the York play, Judas' recital of 
his grievances serves as a happy means of impressing upon the audience the idea of 
his grim aspect, to which in the scene that follows, the porter takes so violent and sud- 
den an exception. In Towneley, the reason is not divulged until the terms of the 
bargain are being discussed. 

(2) The refusal to grant Judas admittance to the council chamber has been 
motivated, in the York revision, by the introduction of a new character, the porter, 
who, believing he sees treachery on Judas' grim face, orders him away. 

The six strophes in the characteristic metre of the Wakefield author, 
which form the introduction to the Towneley Conspiracio, are not, as Pro- 
fessor Cady believes, ^^ the remains of an early Towneley play upon which 
the Northern Septenar strophes of a York play have been engrafted, but 
are rather to be regarded as a later addition to the Northern Septenar 
strophes. ^^ Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain the existence of 
similarities between the introduction and the body of the play -J^ 

" See above, ch. I, pp. 5-9. 

85 In fact, this theory for the play has already been suggested. Professor Davidson's rhyme scheme 
tests (.op. cit. 145) indicated that the Northern Septenar strophes of the Towneley play were written by 
the author responsible for the Northern Septenar plays in the York cycle. 

86 See above, ch. III. 

8' This difference in the conception of Pilate's character is seen in all the Passion plays of the two cycles. 
In Towneley, his attitude is as brutal and scheming as is that of the high priests. This must have been 
the view of the parent cycle, preserved now in the Towneley plays, but modified in the York revisions. 

68 Cady, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 10:590. 

« See Mrs. Frank, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 15:181, n. 4. 

'» The similarities occurring in the extant introductions of the two plays have already been presented. 
See above, ch. I, p. 5-6. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 79 

(a) From Wakefield strophe in the introduction: 

he prechys the pepyll here/ that fature fals ihesus, 
That if he lyf a yere/ dystroy oure law must vs; 
And yit I stand in fere/ so wyde he wyrkys vertus, 
No fawt can on hym here/ no lyfand leyde tyll vs; 

Bot sleyghtys 
Agans hym shall be soght, 
that all this wo has wroght. (37 ff.) 

From Northern Septenar strophe in the body of the play: 

Sir, oure folk ar so afrayd, 

thrugh lesyns he losys oure lay; 

Som remedy must be rayd, 

So that he weynd not thus away. 

Now certan, syrs, this was well sayd, 

and I assent, right as ye say, 

Som preuay poynt to be puruayd 

To mar his myght if [that] we may. (66 flf.) 

ffor certan, syrs, ye say right weyll 

ffor to wyrk witterly; 

Bot yit som fawt must we feyll, 

wherfor that he shuld dy. (86 ff.) 

(b) From Wakefield strophe in the introduction: 

If this be true in deyd, 

his sheen shall spryng and sprede, 

And ouer com euer ylkone. (51 ff.) 

From Northern Septenar strophe in the body of the play: 

Towchyng that tratoure Strang, 
that makys this beleyf, 
ffor if he may thus furth gang, 
It will ouer greatly grefe. (62 ff.) 

The Last Supper. — The chart analysis presented above, ^^ makes it 
apparent that, in the case of the Last Supper, York and Towneley selected 
in common many incidents from the Northern Passion. Although the 
Hegge plays also make use of the same source, ^^ a different set of incidents 
are selected and emphasized from those appearing in both York and 
Townele}^''^ The many similarities existing in York and Towneley, then, 

" See above, ch. I, pp. 9-13. 

" Foster, op. cil. EETS 147:84 £f. 

" (1) The interruption of the incidents of the Last Supper by the introduction of events treated in 
another play in York and Towneley, such as the conspiracy of the Jews, the anointing of Jesus' feet, 
Judas' anger, the bargain and the selling of Jesus, shows that Ludus Coventriae follows a dififerent model 
from that of York and Towneley. 

(2) The difference in the underlying conception of the Ludus Coventriae play is also borne out by 
the different development of certain incidents. 

(a) It repeats Jesus' foretelling of his betrayal and Judas' departure for the high priests. 

(b) It does not consider the shepherd and herd illustration, given a prominent position in both 
York and Towneley. 

(c) Jesus' final speech follows a different model from that of either York or Towneley. 

(d) The position of Jesus' foretelling of Peter's denial, at the close of the Ludus Coventriae play, 
differs from its introduction at an earlier point in both York and Towneley. 

(3) Ludus Coventriae includes incidents not found in York and Towneley: 

(a) The blessing of the bread and wine by Jesus, and his offering them to the disciples as a token 
of his body and blood. 

(b) The entrance of the demon, gloating over the condemned soul of Judas, which he will soon claim 
as his own. 



80 



MARIE C. LYLE 



may be explained by supposing their presence in the parent cycle, now 
extant in the couplets and perhaps the quatrains of the Towneley play 
which, according to the theory of a Northern Septenar revision in York,^* 
must have been revised in that metre for York after the separation. 

That the extant Towneley play represents, indeed, an earlier version 
than the extant York play is indicated by the extended verbal agreement 
which exists between certain of the couplets and the narrative source:" 

NORTHERN PASSION TOWNELEY 

Sir whare wilt t)ou halde thi feste Sir, where will ye youre paske ete? 

we willene gane sythene maste & leste Say vs, let vs dight youre mete. 

Ihesu ansuerde sone on ane Go furth, lohn and peter, to yond cyte ; 

and callede to hym Petir & lohne When ye com ther, ye shall then se 

Gase he saide se schall fynd & mete In the strete, as tyte, a man 

a man with watir in Jae strete beryng water in a can; 

Ipe house J)at he gose to with grythe The house that he gose to grith, 

5e sail hym folowe & gaa hym with. Ye shall folow and go hym with; 

the lorde of Ipe house 5e schall fynde The lord of that house ye shall fynde, 

a symple mane of sely kynde A sympyll man of cely kynde; 

To hym 3e sail speke and saye To hym ye shall speke, and say 

I come sone in my waye. That I com here by the way; 

Say I pray hym, if his will be, 
A lytyll whyl to ese me, 

I will festene in his haulle That I and my dyscypyls all 

Me and Myne discypills alle. (177-90) myght rest a whylein hishall. (314-29) 

Ihesus bad }Darn all sit doune Sir, youre mett is redy bowne, 

And to his biding war pax bowne. will ye wesh and syt downe? 
(204a-b) yei, gyf vs water tyll oure hande, 

take we the grace that god has send; 

Commys furth, both oone and othere; 

If I be master I will be brothere. 
(346-51) 
ludas saughe J^ay sittene alle Tunc comedenl, 6f ludas porrigit 

agayne Ihesu he gane downe falle manum in discum cum Ihesu.''^ 

t^at he moughte with hym ete 
his tresoune ne wolde ne noghte ludas, what menys thou? 

forgete No thyng, lord, bot ett with you. 

he stale owte of his lordis dysche (352-53) 

t)e beste Morselle of his fysche. (209- 

14) 
With tresun sail I be bitrayd, for oone of you shall [me] betray. 

(Pet.) lord, I shall neuer the betray; 

And ilkone by })am self serely Dere master, is it oght I? 

Said t)usgate: "lorde, es it oght I 

t)at swilk treson has paruaid?" (244a, (John) Master, is oght I he then? 
257-59) 

(And.) Master, am oght I that shrew? 

(Sim.) Master, then is oght I? 

(Phil.) Is it oght I 

(r/zad.) Was it oght I . . (355 flf.) 
Or \)e cokke thrise sail crawe Peter, thou shall thryse apon a thraw 

sow sail forsake me in a thrawe. (409- florsake me, or the cok craw. (380-81) 

10) 
Vp he rase right fra t>e burde Take vp this clothe and let vs go. 

And toke a clath with milde chere ffor we haue othere thyngs at do. 

And a bacyn with water clere. (330-32) (382-83) 

'* See above, ch. II, 30 ff. 

" Miss Foster, loc. cit., has already noted some of these verbal agreements. 

" A stage direction. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 



81 



And on his knese down gan he fall 

And said l^at he wald wass his fete. 

(334-36) 
I haue done 5e ne wate whatt. (356) 

bot I do tis, 

t)Ou gettes no part with me in blis. 
I^an said peter and o|Der ma: 
"^at blis, lord, lat vs noght forga, 
Wasche heuid and hend lord pray we 

^e." (341-45) 
Maister and lord now 53 me call 
And wele se say for I am so. 
And 3it I haue kneled 30W vnto 
And wasschen sowre fete all on raw, 
So |Dat 5e sail ensample knaw. (358-62) 



Sit all downe, and here and sees, 
ffor I shall wesh youre feet on knees. 
(384-85) 

Why I do it thou wote not yit. (388) 
Bot I the wesh, thou mon mys 
parte with me in heuens blys. 

Nay, lord, or I that forgo, 

wesh heede, handys, and feytt also. 

(392-95) 
Ye call me master and lord by name; 
Ye say full wele, for so I am; 
Sen I, both lord and master, to you 

wold knele 
to wesh youre fete, so must ye wele. 
Ensaumpyll haue I gyffen you to. 

(404-9) 

The Towneley couplets, it will be noted, follow the order of the Northern 
Passion account, save for the position of the foretelling of Peter's denial. 
The passage which has been cited as evidence pointing to a lost foot -washing 
scene''^ is, in the light of the source, merely an introduction to the Eucharist. 
Such an arrangement of incidents is not, then, indicative of confusion on 
the part of the playwright^^ and can not, therefore, be advanced as evidence 
pointing to the editorial work of a couplet writer at work on the Towneley 
cycle'^^ after its separation from York. 

A gap in the York manuscript and the corruption of the Towneley 
text, m^ake it difficult to point out the changes made in the York revision. 
With the exception of the introductory scene where the disciples" arrange 
for the house for the Last Supper, believed by Professor Cady to have 
been dropped from the York cycle when the separation into dijfferent plays 
occurred, ^° and Jesus' final sermon to his disciples, the York play contains 
not only all of the incidents included in the Towneley play, but also three 
additional incidents derived from the Northern Passion. It must, there- 
fore, have made a second and more extensive use of the source upon which 
the parent play was based. Accordingly, the incidents added to York at 
this time were: 

(1) The quarrel among the disciples as to the leadership after Jesus' death. 

(2) Jesus' commending the disciples to Peter's care. 

(3) Jesus commanding the disciples to provide themselves with swords. 

The Agony and Betrayal. — The similarities in structural outlines and 
phraseology between the York and Towneley plays of the Agony and 

" Cady, op. cil. Mod. Phil. 10:591 ff. 

'8 Cady, (o^. cit. JEGP 10:576 ff. and Mod. Phil. 10:593) remarking upon the corrupt condition of 
the Towneley play, calls attention to the repetition of the foretelling of Peter's denial and of a supposed 
foot-washing scene, the one presentation of the incidents being in couplets, the other in quatrains. 

"See Mrs. Frank, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 15:182. 

8° Cady. op. cit. Mod. Phil. 10:593. 



82 MARIE C. LYLE 

Betrayal have already been presented above. ^^ We note here the same 
situation which existed in the Conspiracy and the Last Supper, namely, 
that although the Hegge play used the Northern Passion, it did not select 
or emphasize the incidents chosen in common by York and Towneley. 
This fact taken into consideration with the further development of certain 
incidents by means of similar details in both York and Towneley seems 
to point to a parent play, from which the extant York and Towneley 
versions were derived. 

The corrupt form of the Wakefield stanza in strophes 97-102 of the 
scene connected with the capture of Jesus*- can not be regarded as a rem- 
nant of an earlier Towneley play upon which a simpler play in quatrains 
was engrafted.*^ The three soldiers assure Pilate, in the usual boastful 
vein of the Miles Gloriosus, of their determination to seize Jesus at any 
cost: Malcus is ready to die for Mahound's sake if only he may be per- 
mitted to take Jesus; the second soldier boasts that, as sure as he eats 
bread, he will strike off Jesus' head; the third soldier glibly promises Pilate 
speedy vengeance, since three such knights as they could bind the devil 
himself. Pilate, in turn, salutes them as "curtes kasers of kamys kyn" 
and bids them bring Jesus to him "safe and sownde." 

As will be seen, this material in the Wakefield strophes is merely a 
further elaboration of the incidents given in the simple quatrains, the 
suggestion for which is found in the Northern Passion :^^ 

Jjan Jjai come with ful grete rowte 
And vmsett ihesus all obout 
With swerdes & maces & glaues gude; 
l^ai blew homes als Jjai war wode 
And in lanternes bare jDai light, 
And sum bare brandes brinand bright 
l^at |3ai might graithly se Jdc gat, 
fifor it was in Jpe euenig late. 

The dramatic presentation of these lines and their incorporation into 
both York and Towneley as a transition scene between Jesus' agony in 
the garden and his capture by the Jews point rather to a parent play from 
which both the extant versions have been derived.*^ Evidence for this 
theory is seen in the further development of the scene in both cycles by 
means of similar details : 

(1) The soldiers are armed with swords. 

(2) Pilate, in Towneley, and the high priests, in York, show their eagerness in 
the search for Jesus b}^ commanding the soldiers to seek everywhere for him: 

SI See above ch. I, pp. 13-18. 

82 Towneley Play XX, 11. 599-651. 

83 Cady, The Wakefield Group in Towneley JECP 1 1 :2S2 fiF. 
8* Foster, op. cil. EETS 145:53. 

85 Probably the York play represents a later revision (see Gayley, Plays of Our Forefathers 154) of the 
parent play, now extant, perhaps in part, in Towneley. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 83 



haue done, sir knyghtys, and kythe youre strengthe, 

And wap you wightly in youre wede; 

Seke ouer all, both brede and lengthe! 

Spare ye not, spende and spede! 

We haue soght hym les and more. (Towneley 1. 592 ff.) 

Als 36 are a lorde of grete renoune, 
56 spare hym not to spill. 
\)e devill hym spede! 



Where 56 hym see, on hym take hede. 

We schall hym seke both even and morne. (York 1. 215 ff.) 

(3) Malcus brings a light to bear before the soldiers. 

(4) The command is given to begin the search. 

At this point, in the Towneley play, the Wakefield strophes occur, and 
comparison with the Northern Passion and the York play makes it clear 
that they are a later addition. ^^ 

Nor can there be any doubt that the York play represents a revision." 
The dissimilarities now existing between York and Towneley can therefore 
be adequately explained on the ground of later revisions : 

(1) York elaborates many of the incidents provided for in the parent play and 
repeats Jesus' command to the disciples to watch and to pray not to fall into tempta- 
tion. 

(2) On the other hand, the Wakefield strophes in the midst of the quatrains 
indicate a further elaboration in Towneley of the incident showing the eagerness of 
the soldiers to hunt for Jesus. 

(3) Certain additions in the York play point to a second and more extensive use 
of the Northern Passion, as seen in the incident where the soldiers fall to the ground 
at the sight of Jesus' divinity and Jesus' assurance that he could have a host of angels 
to testify to his power if he so wished. 

(4) In accordance with its conception of Pilate, the Towneley play shows him as 
the instigator and director of the preparations made to seize Jesus; the revised York 
play, on the other hand, with its changed view of Pilate's character,^^ assigns the r6le 
to the high priests. 

The Crucifixion and Burial 

The similarities existing between the York and Towneley plays dealing 
with the Crucifixion and Burial have already been presented. ^^ The two 
York plays, XXXV and XXXVI, seem to be expanded versions of the one 
Towneley play, XXIII, and many of the differences now existing may be 
accounted for by this expansion. In the development of details, the York 
plays are long drawn out, with much repetition, as in the case of the 
soldiers' mockery of Jesus, w^here they deride his claim to kingship and 
his claim of being able to tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days. 

86 See Mrs. Frank, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 15:181, n. 4. 
"See Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:248; Gayley, op. cit. 154. 
83 See above, ch. II, p. 44 ff. 
88 See above, ch. I, pp. 24-28. 



84 MARIE C. LYLE 

In Towneley, the incident occurs once, 11. 486-97, but in York, it is given 
in both plays, PI. XXXV, 11. 273-83 and PL XXXVI, 11. 79-91. In one 
instance, a long speech by Jesus is split into several parts in the York 
revision, different parts appearing at different places in both plays. ^° Not 
only does the treatment of the subject-matter point to a later revision and 
further separation into two plays by York, but the metre also bears out 
the same assumption. The two York plays, the one, the Crucifixion, in 
the Northern Septenar and the other, the Mortificacio, in a later modifica- 
tion of it, are later stanzaic forms^^ than the simpler and more common 
rime couee, in which the body of the Towneley play is composed, and 
which presumably represents the parent play, in part, at least. 

The Towneley play also has undergone revision in certain strophes 
which closely resemble the work of the Wakefield author. ^^ Probably, 
the strophes in the medial rhymed quatrains of three accents to the half- 
line, and the strophes rhyming aabaabbcb and aabccbbdbd also represent 
revisions. These strophes are mainly concerned with the boasting of 
Pilate, the lamentations of Mary, and the suffering of Jesus, just such 
incidents as would readily adapt themselves to elaboration and revision. 

The Appearance oj Jesus to Mary Magdalene 

Similarities in structural outlines and isolated phrases occur between 
the York and Towneley plays of Jesus' Appearance to Mary Magdalene: 

(1) Mary, searching for Jesus' body, asks the gardener where he has put it. 
Compare T 11. 581, 563-68. 573-74 and Y 11. 70, 42-43, 38 for verbal similarities, with 
the retention of one rhyme word, away, and other phrases. 

In fayth I haue hym soght. I haue lae sought. 



Say me, garthynere, I the pray, Therfore, goode gardner, sais Jiou me, 

I pray pe for the prophetis sake, 

If t':ou bare oght my lord away; Swete Sir, yf pou hym bare awaye. 

The s'^ede thou bare his body tyll 
Tell mC J the pray. 

(2) Jesu;\ reveals himself and Mary recognizes him. 

(3) At Mary's desire to kiss his feet, Jesus commands her not to touch him. 
Compare T 11. 592-96 and Y 11. 82-85 for verbal similarities with the retention of one 
rhyme word, Trinite. 

Nay, mary, neghe thou not me, Negh me noght, my loue, latte be! 

ffor to my fader, tell I the, Marie, 

To my fadir in Trinite 
yit stevynd I noght; ForJ)e / stigh no^t yette. 



Before theym all in trynyte. 

9» Cf. T 11. 233-38 and Y XXXV, 11. 253-58; T II. 255-60 and Y XXXVI, 11. 192-95; T 11. 274-83. 272-73, 
266 and Y XXXV, 1. 52. XXXVI. 11. 118-28; T 11. 290-4 and Y XXXV, 11. 259-64. XXXVI. 11. 254-58. 

" The theory of the Northern Septenar revision was presented above, ch. II. Gayley, op. cit, 57. 
considers the strophe form of the Mortificacio an indication that the play was revised. 

'2 Bunzen, op. cit. 49, thinks the strophes in question are the work of the Wakefield author. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 85 

(4) Jesus bids her tell the disciples of his resurrection. 

The presence of "Burns" strophes in the Towneley play identifies it 
as perhaps a part of the parent cycle, ^^ of which the York play, with its 
greater elaboration of details, probably represents a revision. York 
elaborates the following points : 

(1) Mary's opening lament at Jesus' tomb, where she feels she has "lost her 
wits" and prays God to permit her to see Jesus or his messenger. 

(2) Jesus, in the guise of a gardener, wishes to know what Mary would do with 
the body if she had it. 

(3) When Jesus reveals himself to Mary, he shows his wounds in testimony of 
his identity. 

(4) Mary's praises of Jesus are elaborated upon and closely resemble the general 
spirit and wording of numerous medieval lyrics.^* She lauds him as a comely con- 
queror whose love is sweeter than honey. 

(5) Jesus' reply in the same fantastic strain may also belong to the same type 
of literature. Jesus gives a detailed description of his mighty armor, likening his 
leather hauberk to his head and his breast-plate to his out-spread body. 

The Peregrini 

Although the same incidents are contained in the play of the Peregrini 
in the four English cycles, it is noteworthy that York and Towneley agree 
in elaborating the essential incidents by the addition of similar details, 
often with the use of parallel phraseology. 

(1) In the four plays, the disciples meet and mourn Jesus' death. The lamenta- 
tions in York and Towneley are more elaborate than in the other two cycles. They 
also agree in giving a more detailed account of the cruelties suffered by Jesus and in 
calling to mind certain details connected with the crucifixion. Compare T 11. 15, 30 
and Y 11. 20-21; T 1. 57 and Y 11. 106, 81 for verbal similarities. 

Bio thou belt hym bare. Howe l^ei bette ^at body was bote of all 

bales 

And forto bete his body bio. With buffettis Jjei bete hym full barely. 

Vnto the ded yit thay hym dight. ^us with dole was |Dat dere vnto dede 

dight. 

To \)e dying pei dight hym. 

(2) Jesus, in the guise of a pilgrim, meets the disciples and inquires into their 
trouble. Compare T 11. 98-99 and Y 11. 67-69, 72 for verbal similarities, with the 
retention of one rhyme word, way (wayes in Y), and other phrases. 

Pylgrymes, whi make ye this mone. What are \)es meruailes Jjat 3e of mene. 

And l)us mekill mournyng in mynde 
l^at 36 make, 
And walk so rufully by the way? Walking ^us wille be '\pes wayes? 

(3) The disciples tell about the report of the women. Compare T 11. 186-88 and 
Y 11. 116-19 for verbal similarities, with the retention of one rhyme word, sight, and 
other phrases. 

93 See above, ch. Ill, 47 fif. 

»*See lyrics printed by Mr. Taylor, op. cit. Mod. Phil. 5:1-38. 



86 MARIE C. LYLE 

Bot saide a light Howe all was lemand light wher he 

Com downe with angels, and vp hym was laide 

broght 

Tharein thare sight. For certayne Jjei saugh it in sight. 

A visioune of aungellis bright. 

(4) The disciples assert that, although they distrusted the report, they found it 
to be true. Compare T 11. 195-96 and Y 11. 123-24 for verbal similarities. 

yee, som of vs, sir, haue beyn thare, Some of oure folke hyed forthe and 

And faunde it as the women saide. faste \>Qi it fande, 

J)at all was soth Jsat t>ei saide. . . 

Immediately preceding the disciples' account of the women's report, the York 
and Towneley peregrini tell the stranger that they are awaiting Jesus' resurrection 
the third day as he had foretold. The position of this detail appears significant, be- 
cause in both Chester and Ludus Coventriae, it occurs at other points in the presen- 
tation. 

(5) Jesus reproaches the disciples for their disbelief^^ and quotes prophecies. 

(6) The peregrini invite Jesus to remain for the night. Compare T 11. 240-41 and 
Y 11. 143-44 for verbal similarities. 

Now sir, we pray you, as oure freynde. All nyght we thynke for to byde here, 
All nyght to abyde for charite. Bide with vs, sir pilgrime, we pray )ou. 

Chester does not include the desire, expressed by the disciples in the other plays, 
to hear more of the stranger's talking. His conversation is characterized as "kyndely" 
in York and Towneley, but not in the other cycles. With Jesus' reluctance to remain, 
but final acceptance of the invitation, the similarity in the fundamental outlines of 
the four plays is resumed. 

(7) The similarity is continued in the vanishing of Jesus immediately after he 
has blessed the bread. Compare T 11. 391-92 and Y 11. 160-62 for verbal similarities 
not found in the other cycles. 

. where is this man becom, Saiel wher is pis man? 

Right here that sat betwix vs two. Away is he went, 

Right now satte he beside vsl 

(8) The realization on the part of the disciples that the stranger was Jesus occurs 
in all four plays, as well as their rejoicing and departure to tell the other disciples. 
Compare T 11. 363-65 and Y 11. 188-89 for verbal similarities. ^^ 

Such an extensive similarity can not be adequately explained, as Pro- 
fessor Cady suggests, ^^ by the theory of a common liturgical source. The 
"Burns" stanzas, forming the body of the play, identify it as a part of the 
parent cycle, ^^ and the York play may be regarded as a revision of it. The 
conciseness with which the York incidents are presented appears to point 
to an intentional condensation of the play. A passage in the York text 
clearly indicates a limitation in time: 

95 See T 1. 202, Y 1. 130, Ch p. 104 and Hegge plays p. 367 for verbal similarities. 

'^ Compare Ch p. 106 and Hegge plays p. 371 for verbal similarities not so close as those existing 
between York and Towneley. 

8' Cady, op. cit. PMLA 24:464. 
»8 See above, ch. Ill, 47 E. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 87 

Here may we notte melle of more at |5is tyde, 
For prossesse of plaies ^at precis in plight.'^ 

On the other hand, isolated strophes in the characteristic metre of the 
Wakefield author^"^" and the stanzas rhyming ababcbc, which occur either 
in connection with the Wakefield strophes or separately,^"^ represent 
probable additions in the Towneley cycle. These strophes, it should be 
noted, consist merely in repetitions of material already presented or show 
an expansion in phraseology. 

Third Group of Plays 

In the third group, we have the plays which show a similarity in 
structural outlines and verbal reminiscences in isolated passages. Such 
resemblances, in conjunction with the extensive agreements in the plays 
of the first two groups, we believe indicative of a former identity. Because 
of the absence of common rhymes, we must suppose the revisions of the 
plays in this group more thorough than those in the first two groups. In 
most cases, it is probable that the plays underwent independent revisions 
in both cycles. 

Noah and the Flood 

Similarities in structural outlines and verbal reminiscences in isolated 
passages occur between the York and Towneley plays dealing with Noah 
and the Flood: 

(1) God finds that that part of his creation, man, in whom he has taken the 
greatest pride, lies deep in sin. Compare T 11. 28-31, 111 and Y PI. VIII, 11. 6-16 for 
verbal similarities. 

. to his liknes maide man, And to my liknes made I man, 

. . . Adam & eue that woman, A woman also with hym wrought I, 



To miiltiplie without discord, I badde l^ame waxe and multiplye, 

To fulfille this worlde, withoutyn 
striffe 

In erth I se hot syti reynand to and And synne is nowe reynand so ryffe. 
fro. 

(2) God repents ever having made man and decides to destroy him by means of 
a flood, saving only Noah, his family, and two of each of the animals. Compare 
T 11. 91-101 and Y PI. VIII, 11. 15-16, 27-28 for verbal similarities. 

I repente full sore that eiier maide I J)at me repentys and rewys for]Di 

man. pat euer I made outhir man or wiffe. 

Therfor shall I fordo all this midell- A flowyd above Jjame shall be broght, 

erd 
With floodis that shall fio. To stroye medilerthe, . . . 

99 York Play XL, 11. 191-92. 

100 Towneley Play XXVII, str. 3 and 30. 

101 Towneley Play XXVII, str. 1 and 2 in connection with Wakefield str. 3; str. 29 and 31 in connection 
with Wakefield str. 30. Str. 33, 39, and 48 occur separately. 



MARIE C. LYLE 



(3) God appears to Noah and gives him the instructions for building the ship and 
filling it, telling him that it will begin to rain in seven days. Compare T 11. 147-48 
and Y PL VIII, 11. 138-39 for verbal similarities. 

// shall begyn full sone to rayn vnces- Eftir jDe vii day sail it rayne 

santle, 
After dayes seuen be done and induyr Till fowrty dayes be fully paste. 

dayes fourty. 

(4) Noah rejoices that he should be so favored, but complains of his inability to 
carry out the plan because of his old age. 

(5) Noah works on the ship alone for a hundred years. 

(6) A comic altercation between Noah and his wife ensues. The wife, urged by 
her husband to enter the ark, stubbornly refuses, offering excuses. The argument 
increases in vehemence until finally blows are exchanged. In the end, the wife is 
overcome and forced to enter the ship. 

(7) The flood rises. 

(8) The flood wanes. 

(a) Twice, we are told that the waning has set in. Compare T U. 450, 458 and 
Y PI. IX, 11. 188, 204 for verbal similarities. 

It is wanyd a grete dele. For be the wanyng may we witte 

Yei, now wanys the see. It is wanand, t)is wate I wele. 

(b) The cataracts are knit together and the sun appears in the horizon. Com- 
pare T 1. 451 and Y PI. 1. 190 for verbal similarities. 

and cateractes knyt. The catteraks I trowe be knytte. 

(c) Three hundred and fifty days have passed in Towneley since the beginning 
of the flood and nine months in York, as against the traditional forty days. 

(d) Noah, sounding the sea, finds that it is fifteen cubits deep. Compare T 11. 
433-34 and Y PL IX, 11. 195-96 for verbal similarities. 

and I shall asay I sail assaye pe see, 

The depnes of the see. How depe Jiat it is here. 

(e) At the sight of the hills of Armenia, there is rejoicing; /»e hillis of hermotiye, 
see T 1. 466 and Y PL IX, 1. 264. 

(f) The raven is sent out but fails to return. 

(g) The dove is sent out and returns with the olive branch, the token of their 
salvation; we shall be sauyd all, T 1. 517, and we mone be saued, Y 1. 260. 

(9) As the family leave the ship, they remark upon the desolation of the land and 
the drowning of the people. 

These similarities appear to indicate a parent version of which the 
extant York and Towneley plays represent independent revisions. ^''^ 'pj-^g 
two York plays are thought to have been written under the same influence 
as that which dominated the Northern Septenar productions,^"^ and may, 
therefore, be regarded as revisions of an earlier play.^°^ The Towneley 

lo^ Certain similarities with Chester may be explained by assuming that Chester came in contact with 
the parent play or some earlier version of it than those now extant. 

■»3 Davidson, op. cit. 144 ff. 

">< See above, ch. II, p. 30 ff. Although Professor Hohlfeld {Anglia l"l:288) admits that the York and 
Towneley plays stand very close to each other in many respects, he thinks the differences so numerous 
and so important as to make improbable a direct relationship between the two. Professor Gayley {Plays 
of Our Forefathers 168), on the other hand, believes the influence of York upon Towneley not unlikely. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 89 

play, composed in the characteristic metre of the Wakefield author, also 
represents a revision. ^"^ Thus, the dissimilarities are adequately explained: 

(1) The York play handles certain incidents not treated in Towneley; namely, 
the wife's refusal to enter the ark without her gossips and the appearance of the rain- 
bow. 

(2) As an excuse for her reluctance to enter the ark, the Towneley wife expresses 
a desire to continue her spinning, the York wife to go to town. 

(3) The satiric remarks directed in general against husbands, wives, and mar- 
riage by the Towneley Noah and his wife are characteristic of the Wakefield author. 
The greater violence of the Towneley scene may also be ascribed to his pen, as well as 
the additional scene of altercation, when the wife learns of the command to build the 
ship. The additional comments at the close of the play concerning the desolation 
and death caused by the flood are probably also by the same author. 

The Annunciation 

In structural outline and phraseology the English plays on the Annun- 
ciation agree closely. ^°^ In three incidents, however, York and Towneley 
make use of certain phrases not found in the other cycles : 

(1) Mary can not understand the fulfillment of the angel's command. Compare 
Til. 111-14 and Y 11. 170-74. 

A child to bere thou me hetys, Howe sulde it he, I the praye. 

How suld it be? That I sulde consayve a childe 

I cam neuer by man's syde, I knawe no man Jjat shulde haue fyled 

Bot has avowed my madynhede. My maydenhode, the sothe to saye. 

(2) Mary is told that Elizabeth also has conceived a son. Compare T 11. 134-39 
and Y 11. 181-84. 

Elesabeth, thi Cosyn, that is cald geld Loo, Elyzabeth, pi cosyne, ne myght 

She has conceyffed a son in elde. In elde consayue a childe for aide, 

And this is pis is pe sexte moneth full ryght. 

The sext moneth 

(3) Mary, praising God, resigns herself to his will. Compare T 11. 143-47 and 
Y 11. 187-92. 

/ lofe my lord all weldand, I love my lorde with herte dere, 

I am his madyn at his hand, Goddis handmayden, lo! me here, 

I trow hodword that thou me bryng, To his will all redy grayd. 

Be done to me in all thyng. Be done to me of all manere, 

Thurgh thy worde 

Since the Towneley Annunciation is contained in the same play as 
Joseph's Trouble, in all probability a part of the parent cycle,^"^ one may 
surmise that it also represents the parent play which has been revised by 
York in a different metre but without any elaboration of subject-matter. 

i»5 See Mrs. Frank, op. cil. Mod. Phil. 15:181, n. 4. 

i»6See Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:290, Davidson, op. cit. 158-63, Cady, op. cit. PMLA 24:435 ff. and 
Hemingway, op. cit. intro. xvii for the different theories advanced to explain the relationship. 
"'See above, p. 56 2. 



90 MARIE C. LYLE 



The Visit to Elizabeth 

As in the case of the Annunciation, the Visit to Elizabeth in the EngHsh 
cycles is composed of common incidents which closely follow the scriptural 
narrative. York and Towneley, however, agree in certain details and 
phraseology not found in the other cycles : 

(1) The welcome by Elizabeth. Compare T 11. 4-6 and Y 11. 201-4 for verbal 
similarities. 

Welcom, mary, blyssed blome, Welcome! mylde Marie, 



loyfull am I of thi com Joifull woman am I, 

To me, from nazareth. Jjat I nowe see Jse here. 

(2) The inquiry concerning the relatives. Compare T 11. 13-16 and Y 11. 197-99 
for verbal similarities. 

flfuU lang shall I the better be, Elyzabeth, myn awne cosyne, 

That I may speke my fyll with the. Me thoght I coveyte alway mast 

My dere kyns Woman; To speke with pe of all my kynne. 
To'wytt how thi freyndys fare. 

(3) Elizabeth's commendation of Mary for placing her trust in God. Compare 
T 11. 43-48 and Y 11. 225-32 for verbal similarities. 

And als, mary, blyssed be thou, Blissed be pou grathely grayed 

That stedfastly wold trow, 

J)ou trowed and helde be payed 



That vnto the were sayd or send. All pat to pe is saide. 

(4) Mary's desire to pray. Compare T 11. 49-51 and Y 11. 237-40 for verbal 
similarities, with the retention of one rhyme word, hele, and other phrases. 

My saull lufys my lord abuf, My sank sail louying ma 

Vnto J^at lord so lele. 
And my gost gladys with luf, A^id my gast make ioye alswa 

In god, that is my hele. In god pat es my hele. 

If, as we suggested above, the York play of the Annunciation represents 
a revision of the Towneley play, then the York Visit, composed in the same 
metre and included in the same play as the Annunciation, likewise is a 
revision. If this be the case, the York revision appears to have been 
influenced, as in the Northern Septenar plays, ^"^ by a desire to conform 
more closely to scriptural accounts. It not only follows the correct order 
of events. Annunciation, Salutation, Joseph's Trouble, rather than the 
incorrect order given in Towneley, but it also omits much of the extraneous 
matter concerning the relatives which the Towneley play introduces. 

The Examination before Caiaphas 

Among the English cycles, only York and Towneley separate the 
incidents connected with the Examination of Caiaphas from the incidents 
connected with the various trial scenes and make of them a complete play. 
Moreover, certain similarities in structural outlines and phraseology occur: 

108 See above, ch. II, p. 44 ff. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 91 



(1) Jesus, mocked and abused by the soldiers, is led to Caiaphas. 

(2) The soldiers complain bitterly about the difficulty and weariness of the 
journey. 

(3) Accusations are brought against Jesus: that he claims to be able to destroy 
the temple and rebuild it in three days; that he cures the sick; that he breaks the Sab- 
bath; that he calls himself God's Son (Men call hym a prophete and goddis son of 
heuen, T 1. 91 and Callis hym selflfe God sone of hevene, Y 1. 50) and cares nothing for 
Caesar. 

(4) Caiaphas, himself, offers to examine Jesus. Compare T 11. 128, 235 and Y 
1. 275 for verbal reminiscence. 

ffor certys, I my self shall/ 

make examynyng. For my selfe schall serche hym 

and here what he sais. 
And therfore examynyng ffyrste will I 

make. 

(5) Jesus refuses to answer. 

(6) The Jews, angry because of Jesus' silence, wish to beat him. 

(7) Upon being asked whether or not he is the son of God, Jesus answers. Com- 
pare T 11. 249-54 and Y 11. 292-97 for verbal similarities. 

(8) The Jews then consider that no more witnesses are needed. Compare T II. 
259-60 and Y 11. 302-5 for verbal similarities. 

Thou art worthy to de! Nowe nedis nowdir willenesse ne coun- 

we nede no wytnes, saille to call, 

hys self 50^5 expres. But take his sawes as /jc ^ajV/Zi . . . 



Wherfore he is wele worthy to be dede. 

(9) Since Caiaphas docs not possess "temporal" power, they decide to send Jesus 
to Pilate for judgment. Compare T 1. 291 (Sich men of astate shuld no men deme) 
and Y 1. 339 (se awe to deme noman). 

(10) They order Jesus beaten. 

(11) The scene of the buffeting. 

(12) Jesus is led away to Pilate. 

Of these incidents, those numbered (2), (6), and (9) do not occur in 
the source, the Northern Passion,^^^ and may, therefore be regarded as 
evidence pointing to a parent version, of which the extant York and Towne- 
ley plays are revisions. In both cycles, the play is composed in a late 
metre: in York, it occurs in a corrupt modification of the Northern Sep- 
tenar,""^ and in Towncley in the characteristic strophe of the Wakefield 
author."^ In its revision, York apparently added tv^ro new scenes: the 
preliminary court scene and perhaps Peter's denial. The former scene 
was probably a special feature since it contains material derived from the 
Gospel of Nicodemus}^'^ 

">9Sco above, ch. I, pp. 18-20. 

""Hohlfeld, op. cil. Anglia 11:248, Gayley, Plays of Our Forefathers 154, and Davidson, op. cil. 137 
regard it as a late play. 

i»See below, p. 101. 

"2 For incorporation of material from Gospel of Nicodemus, compare Y 11. 33-39 and G of N II. 39-44, 
Y 11. 40-45 and G of N Add. 11. 29-38, Y 11. 50-54 and G of N 11. 22-28, Y 1. 57 and G of N 11. 47-48. 



92 MARIE C. LYLE 



The Ascension 

Similarities in certain details and in isolated passages occur between the 
York and Towneley plays of the Ascension: 

(1) The disciples await together Jesus' coming and the approaching events. 

(2) Jesus appears to the disciples, reproaches them for being hard of heart and 
unbelieving, and exhorts them to preach the gospel. "In hardness youre hartys ar 
fast" (T 1. 200), "And wondir liarde of hartis ar se" (Y 1. 84). 

(3) Jesus promises to return at Doomsday in order to judge man. In the mean- 
time, he promises to send the Holy Ghost. 

(4) The clouds open to receive Jesus and he ascends. 

(5) Mary is both joyful and sorrowful at Jesus' departure. Compare T 11. 298- 
301, 348-55 and Y 11. 179-82 for verbal similarities. 

A selcouth siglit yonder now is, A selcouth sight is l^is to see, 

Mi sone Jjus to be ravisshed right 

A clowde has borne my chylde to blys. In a clowde wendande vppe fro me. 

(6) Mary fears the Jews and John attempts to comfort her. 

(7) The angels proclaim Jesus' ascension. Compare T 11. 254-68 and Y 11. 219- 
24 for verbal similarities, with the retention of two rhyme words, Galile and se, and 
other phrases. 

ye men of galylee, ^e men of \>c lande of Galile, 

wherfore meruell ye? What wondir 5c to heucne lokand? 

hevyn behold and se jais Jesus whome se fro youe see 

how ihesus vp can weynde Vppe-tane, 3e schall well vndirstande. 



Right so shall he, securly. Right so agayne come doune schall he, 

Com downe agane truly, 

with his woiindys blody. When he so comes with woundes 

bledand. 

(8) The disciples lead Mary away. 

(9) The disciples leave for Jerusalem. 

Undoubtedly, the Wakefield variants, the double quatrains, and the 
strophes rhyming ababbcbccdcd represent later additions, because the 
subject-matter with which they deal is a repetition or an elaboration of 
incidents contained in the simpler metres, the rime couee and the single 
quatrain. The single quatrains may also be a revision for the same reasons. 

(1) Perhaps in imitation of the three appearances of Jesus in the Incredulity of 
Thomas, the Towneley play of the Ascension also makes him appear three times."^ 
The first appearance occurs in strophes rhyming ababbcbccdcd and abab,"* the second 
appearance in ababbcbccdcd, ababcdddc, and aaabeccb,"^ and the third in single 
quatrains.ii^ 

(2) Mary repeats her comments upon Jesus' ascension, both times in single 
quatrains, which may be an indication of two quatrain writers, or the bungling work 
of one. 

'" Hohlfcld, ot>. cit. Anglia 11:303 suggests that this is in imitation of the three appearances of Jesus 
in the Garden of Gethsemane. 
11* Lines 25-52. 
"!■ Lines 101-57. 
"« Lines 194 B. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 93 



(3) Jesus' promise to come again at Doomsday occurs twice, once in the rime 
cotiee and again in single quatrains. 

(4) The disciples' marvelling at Jesus' ascension seems to be a repetition in 
Wakefield variants of material given in single quatrains. 

(5) John's attempt to comfort Mary occurs twice, both times in single quatrains, 
as in (2). 

Certain of the incidents, common to York and Towneley, are further 
elaborated in York: 

(1) Jesus' appearance is marked by the presence of additional details. 

(2) In his reproach of the disciples, Jesus contrasts their distrust with Mary's 
loyalty. 

(3) The disciples' marvelling at Jesus' ascension is much elaborated. 

(4) The disciples promise to care for Mary as they lead her away. 

(5) Mary proclaims Jesus as her son. 

Thus, both the York and Towneley plays appear to be revisions of an 
earlier play. Perhaps, the parent play is extant, in part, in the rime couee 
stanzas of the Towneley play. 

Fourth Group of Plays 

In the fourth group, we have the plays which show certain similarities 
in structural outlines, but without extensive or significant agreements in 
phraseology. In the case of these plays, we can not be sure that the 
resemblance is indicative of an original identity. But on the other hand, 
it is possible that independent revisions destroyed traces of verbal agree- 
ment. 

Cain and Abel 

The gap in the York manuscript in the midst of the play on Cain and 
Abel, covering such important incidents as the tithing and the murder of 
Abel, makes a complete comparison with the Towneley play impossible. 
In spite of this difficulty, however, York and Towneley show certain 
similarities in incidents and phraseology, not found in the other English 
plays."'^ Both cycles include : 

(1) A comic episode between Cain and his Garcio. 

(2) Cain's obstinacy before acceding to Abel's entreaties to make the sacrifice. 

Similarities in phraseology are found in the following lines : 

(1) Tl. 174 and Y 1. 3. 

God that shope both erth and heuen. He shoppc pe Sonne, both see & sande. 

(2) T 1. 345 and Y 1. 84. 

What askis thou me? I trow at hell. What askes thoioe me that taill to tell? 

•" Because it. treats incidents not found in York or Towneley, the Chester play differs considerably: 
(a) Adam's vision while Eve was being created; (b) Cain tells his parents of the murder; (c) the lamenta- 
tions of Adam and Eve over the sorrows and misfortunes of life. 



94 MARIE C. LYLE 

(3) T 11. 351-53 and Y 11. 100-1."8 

The voyce of thi brotheris blode pe voice of his bloodc cryelh vengeaunce 



from erth to heuen venyance cryse. Fro erihe to heuen. 

(4) T 1. 355 and Y 11. 90 and 107. 

here I gif the my malison. God hais sent the his malyson. 

God has gf/fyn/jc his malisonne. 

(5) Til. 361-65 and Y 11. 121-26. 

/ shall hyde me fro thi face. Fro ]ie shalle I be hidde in hye- 

(6) Tl. 370 and Y 1. 128."!' 

Nay, caym, it bese not so. Nay, Cayme nou)t soo, haue |3ou no 

drede. 

The divergences in the two play.s may be explained by later revisions 
in both cycles. The complicated strophe form of the York play 
(ababbcdbccd) may be evidence of a later revision of that play; at any 
rate, the Brewbarret episode was not entered in the Register until 1558.'-" 
The variety of metrical forms in the Towncley play is itself an indication 
of revision. 

The determination of the probable earlier and later stages in the 
development of the Towneley play and the relation of the play to the 
parent cycle present an interesting study. The greater part, in fact the 
body of the play, is written in couplets; a number of twelve- or thirteen- 
line strophes, rhyming aaabcccbbdbd or aaabccccbbdbd, appear at the 
beginning, and two strophes in the favorite metre of the Wakefield author 
at the close, while interspersed among the couplets occur variations of the 
simple rime couee, or what may be corruptions of the pedes of the twelve- 
or thirteen-line strophe. ^-^ Because of its extraordinary boldness and 
characteristic humor, as well as the presence of two Wakefield strophes, 
the play has generally been considered a later revision by the Wakefield 
author.^22 Professor Cady,^-^ however, believes that the original play was 
composed in the twelve-line strophe form, and that the couplets represent 
a later revision. Professor Gayley,!^^ on the other hand, argues that the 
couplets represent the older play, asserting that the final reviser, "our 
Wakefield master has not only added the last two stanzas in his favorite 
form, but has probably lent spice to the first seven." He thinks that the 

»8 Cf. Ch p. 41. thy brothers bloode askes thee upon 

Vengeance, as faste as it can, 

From earth to me cryinge. 
»' Cf. Ch p. 42. Naye, Cayme, thou shalte not dye sone. 
'-° See Smith, ibid. 35, 37, and intro. xv. 
121 Cady, ibid. JEGP 10:573 ff. 

1" Pollard, ibid, intro. xxii; Gayley, ibid. 105-66; Bunzen, ibid. 42 ff. 
"3 Cady, ibid. JEGP 10:573. 
""Gayley. ibid. 186; alr,o in Internal. Qnar. 12:86. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 95 

playwright left "the other stanzas much as they were," but "heightened 
the characterization of Cain and his boy, enriched their speech with 
proverbs, and made of Abel something other than the milksop presented 
in the earlier cycles." 

It is, then, evident that the Towneley play is the work of at least two 
different writers, whose general method, style, and metrical form differ 
considerably. Humorous passages occur only in the twelve- or thirteen- 
line strophes, the rime couee, and the irregular couplets, whereas the 
serious action of the play is developed in the couplets which are, for the 
most part, regular in metre and rhyme. 

With the exception of two episodes, the failure of Cain's sacrifice to 
burn and God's curse upon Cain, the incidents occurring in the regular 
couplets form the framework of the play. 

(1) Lines 68-77, Abel exhorts Cain to come with him and make burnt offerings 
of a tenth of his cattle and corn. 

(2) Lines 91-96. Cain refuses to leave his plough and "work for God" who has 
given him only sorrow and woe. 

(3) Lines 167-223. Abel finally prevails upon Cain to make the sacrifice. Abel 
tithes his shares fi.rst, lights them and humbly prays God to accept them. Then Cain 
begins his tithing, but offers his poorest corn and miscounts them. Abel remonstrates, 
but to no avail. 

(4) Lines 311-27. Cain kills Abel with a cheek-bone. 

On the other hand, additions to the fundamental incidents or elabora- 
tions of them occur in the twelve- or thirteen-line strophes, the rime couee, 
and the irregular couplets. 

(1) Lines 1-36. Cain, introduced by a ranting speech of the Garcio, enters with 
his plough, and rails at his horse as "the worse mare" he ever had. 

(2) Lines 37-56. A scene of wrangling between Cain and the Garcio. 
'(3) Lines 57-67. Abel, entering, greets Cain, but is ill-received. 

(4) Lines 78-90; 97-166. Repetition and elaboration occur in connection with 
Cain's unwillingness to make the sacrifice and Abel's exhortations to him. 

(5) Lines 224-310. The false tithing on the part of Cain, and Abel's remonstrance 
are elaborated upon. In connection with this scene, God reproves Cain who, in turn, 
is impudent. 

(6) Lines 355-77. God, appearing to Cain, utters the curse, and Cain, lament- 
ing, wishes to be buried in "Gudeboure."^-^ 

(7) Lines 378-473. Wishing to bury the body, Cain calls the Garcio, but is 
forced to give him a proclamation of pardon in order to insure his silence concerning 
the murder. Then Cain curses him, puts him to work with the plough, and bidding 
the spectators farewell, says he must betake himself to hell. 

We may, then, conclude that the original play, perhaps the one present 
in the parent cycle, was composed in couplets, which was later revised by 
a writer who not only stressed the comic possibilities of the old scenes, 
but invented additional episodes, especially in connection with the Garcio. 

'"Refers to Gudeboure Close in Wakefield. See Peacock, op. cit. Anglia 24:509 flf. Chambers, op. 
cit. 2:415. 



96 MARIE C. LYLE 

Still another criterion might be applied in the attempt to distinguish 
the remains of the earlier pla^^ from the later revision; namel}^ the two 
different spellings of the name Cain, — "Cam" and "Cayme," — which are 
found in the text of the play. In general, the spelling "Cam" is used in 
the parts which, upon stylistic grounds, appear to be of earlier origin, 
whereas the spelling "Cayme" appears in the parts which seem to indicate 
a later revision.^-* 

Abraham and Isaac 

The York and Towneley plays of Abraham and Isaac show certain 
points of similarity, which are not found in the other English plays : 

(1) In his soliloquy at the beginning of the play, Abraham speaks of his age as 
being a hundred years. Compare T 11. 9-10 and 38 with Y 11. 1 and 6 for verbal simi- 
larities. 

Mercy, lord omnipotent! 

long syn he this world has wroght. Grett god, Jaat alle pis warld has 

wrought, 

An hundreth yeris, certis, haue I seyne. A hundereth wynter to fulfille. 

(2) God decides to test Abraham's faith. 

(3) Abraham accepts God's command cheerfully. Compare T 11. 76, 81 and 
Y 11. 75, 103 for verbal similarities, not found in the other plays. 

ffor certis thi bidyng shal be done. God wille l)is dede be done. 

This commaundement must I nedis/w/- Goddis commaundement to fulfille. 
fill. 

(4) The York and Towneley plays include the two servants who lead the ass 
laden with wood for the sacrifice. Save for Dublin, none of the other plays mention 
servants. 

(5) Only York and Towneley mention the length of time required for the journey, 
three days, and the name of the destination, Mt. Vision. 

(6) The reference at the close of the York play to Rebecca may be evidence of 
the existence of a complete Abraham-family group in the parent cycle, as in the 
extant Towneley cycle. This reference appears to be significant, because none of the 
other plays look forward to a possible continuation of the group. 

(7) The following similarity in phraseology is especially significant, with the 
retention of the two rhyme words, bowne and towne. Compare T 11. 129-32 and Y 11. 
113-17. 

luke thou be bowne; Att youre biddyng we wille be bowne, 

ffor certan, son, thi self and I, What -way in worlde J)at 3e wille wende. 

we two must now weynd furth ol towne. Why, sail we trusse ought forthe a 

towne 
In far country to sacrifie. In any vncouthe lande to lende? 

The revision of the York play in the Northern Septenar^^^ is sufficient 
to explain the slightness of the resemblance between the two plays. Prob- 

126 Suggested by Professor Manly. 

127 See above, ch. II, p. 44 ff. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 97 

ably the Northern Septenar playwright considered the pitiful pleadings of 
the Isaac, usually portrayed in the mysteries/-^ undignified, if not sac- 
rilegious. Isaac is, therefore, portrayed as a prototype of Christ, and 
consequently all reference to natural fears or misgivings, which might be 
construed as unbecoming, are consistently excluded. Nor is Abraham 
portrayed as a father torn between two great emotions, the feeling of 
parental love and the feeling of religious duty. The mother motif, given 
a prominent position in the other plays, is omitted, perhaps for the same 
reason. 

The Towneley play may be an adaptation of an earlier York play, 
later discarded, as suggested by Professor Gayley.^-^ It may even be the 
earlier York play itself, but the presence of four couplets in the midst of 
the double quatrains seem rather to point to a still earlier play. Since the 
two plays immediately following it, Isaac and Jacob, supposed to be the 
earliest section of the cycle, ^^'^ are composed in couplets, it is possible to 
suggest that the parent cycle may have contained a complete Abraham- 
family group in couplets. ^^^ 

Mr. Hugenin,^^^ following Professor Davidson's theory^^^ that a couplet 
editor worked over the Towneley cycle, concludes that the couplets in the 
Abraham play are a later interpolation from the Viel Testament, ^^^ suggested 
by the mention of Adam in two of the double quatrain passages. ^^^ Because 
of the references in double quatrains, however, it seems likely that the 
couplets represent, not a later interpolation, but the remains of an earlier 
play, and that the original couplet version contained three references to 
Adam, two of which underwent revision in quatrains, while the third 
remained intact in its original couplet form; or it may be, that the 
quatrain passages in question represent an elaboration of the couplets. 

The Scourging or Condemnation 

The twenty-second Towneley play, the Scourging, corresponds to two 
plays in the York cycle, the Condemnation and On the Way to Calvary. 
The practical identity of the incidents connected with On the Way to Calvary 
indicates the existence of a parent play which in its account of the Con- 
demnation underwent revision in both cycles. The Towneley version of 

1" Cf. Viel Testament, Chester, Towneley, Brome, and Dublin plays. 
129 Gayley, op. cit. 134, n. 1. See also Pollard, op. cit. xxvi. 
"0 Ten Brink, op. cit. 2:244; 3:274. 

"1 Because of the presence of the same type of couplets in the Fall of the Angels and Cain and Abel, 
it is even possible that originally the whole Old Testament group was composed in couplets. 

132 Hugenin, An Interpolation in the Towneley Abraham Play, Mod. Lang. Notes 14:256. 

133 Davidson, op. cit. 130 and Cady, op. cit. JEGP 10:579 believe these couplets are editorial. 
131 Viel Testament, ed. Rothschild. 

135 The passages in question are Abraham's monologue, where two stanzas are devoted to him, and 
line 61, where Adam's name is again mentioned. 



98 MARIE C. LYLE 

the Condemnation, composed in the characteristic metre of the Wakefield 
writer, and the York play, in a twelve-line alliterative stanza rhyming 
ababbcbcdccd, are clearly the result of late revisions^^^ which were so 
thorough-going, that although it is possible to trace a similarity in under- 
lying structure, none remains in phraseology. ^^7 q^j^jg situation is ex- 
plained, in large part, by the fact that the York play in its revision intro- 
duced certain incidents from the Gospel of Nicodemus, as the bowing of 
the standards, Pilate's forced obeisance to Jesus, and the suggestion that 
the high priests judge Jesus. 

The York play, stripped of these incidents, assumes an outline which 
corresponds more nearly, not only to the extant Towneley play, but also 
to the earlier form of the York play as described by Burton in the 1415 
Hst.138 

The Towneley Pilate's pretence of befriending Jesus and the York 
Pilate's perception of the "hideousness" of the accusations are not incon- 
sistent with the theory of an original identity of the two plays, for they 
are but manifestations of the difference in the characterization of Pilate 
already noted in the case of other plays.^^^ 

Fifth Group of Plays 

It is impossible to make a complete comparison of the Purification^ 
because of the fragmentary condition of the Towneley manuscript at this 
point. In the portion remaining. Professor Cady^^^ traces a similarity in 
underlying structure. Because of the addition of Anna and the clerks, he 
suggests that the York play is later. This conclusion is borne out by its con- 
fused metre and by its late entry in the register, in 1558.^^^ The Towneley 
play, composed in the rime couee, represents apparently an early stage in 
the Towneley cycle. ^^^ The few points of similarity in structural outlines 
may be due to derivation from a common source, or it may be that this 
play was not present in the parent cycle. 

Sixth Group of Plays 

It now remains to discuss the plays which are contained in only one of 
the cycles. Of the six Towneley plays not now included in York, two, 
the Hanging of Judas and the Talents, are subjects of older York plays^^^ 

"•See Gayley, op. cil. 154 and 161; Pollard, op. cil. intro. xxii; Bunzen, op. cit. 14 ff.; and below, p. 101. 
13' See above, chart, ch. I, p. 20-22. 

138 See Smith, op. cil. intro. xxv; and above, ch. II, p. 32. 
i»» See above, ch. II, p. 44 ff. and p. 78. 
1" Cady, op. cil. PMLA 24:456, 
1" See Smith, op. cil. intro. xv. 

1*2 Pollard, op, cit. intro. xxiii f.; Gayley, op. cit, 161, 

"9 See 1415 Burton list. Smith, op. c»7. intro. xix 5.; undated Burton list, Davies oP. cit, app. 233; 1422 
record, Mem. Bk., Sur. Soc. 120:155; Riley, Hist. MS, Report 1:109. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 99 

and may, therefore represent the parent form. Two of the plays, Isaac 
and Jacob, are composed in couplets and the other two, the Prophetae and 
Octavian in the rime couie, metres which we believe were used to some 
extent by the parent cycle. ^^* The omission of these plays from the extant 
York cycle may have been due to the crafts which repeatedly discarded 
plays because they grew tired of them or were unable to support them."^ 

The omission of plays in the Towneley cycle may be explained, in part, 
by gaps in the manuscript. The gap of twelve pages near the beginning 
accounts for the loss of most of the Temptation of Adam and Eve and Their 
Fall, as well as the Expulsion. '^'^^ The gap of twelve pages near the end of 
the manuscript probably explains the loss of the play on the Descent of 
the Holy Ghost and perhaps also one or two Mary plays. 

Again, it is possible that certain plays once forming a part of the Towne- 
ley cycle were not copied in the manuscript with the others. Since the two 
extant trial plays, the Examination before Caiaphas and the Final Con- 
demnation by Pilate,^^'' occur in the characteristic metre of the Wakefield 
writer, Professor Cady^^^ suggests that the intermediate trial scenes, the 
First Trial before Pilate and the Trial before Herod,^^^ were dropped because 
"the superior interest of the Wakefield scenes crowded out other less 
interesting matter." Whether this be the actual reason for the omissions 
or not, it is impossible to say, but certainly such intermediate plays did 
exist at one time, because of references to them in the extant plays. ^^^ 
The Preliminary Trial before Pilate is referred to in the scene of the 
Capture where Caiaphas bids the soldiers take Jesus to Pilate: 

Now sen he is welle bett, weynd on youre gate, 
And tell ye the forfett vnto sir Pylate.^^^ 

The Trial before Herod is referred to in the Final Condemnation before 
Pilate where one of the soldiers tells Pilate of his coming before Herod: 

I haue ron that I swett from sir herode oure kyng 

With this man that wille not lett oure lawes to downe bryng.^^^ 

Whether the absence of a Nativity play in the Towneley cycle is to be 
ascribed to the loss of a play originally forming a part of the cycle, or 
whether the cycle never contained such a play, is more difficult to determine. 
Professor Cady^^^ offers a similar suggestion to that for the intermediate 

I" See above, pp. 56 5., 68 ff.. 71 ff., 75 g., 79 5., 93 ff. 

145 See below, ch. V, p. 105 ff. 

"« See Pollard, op. cil. 9, n. 

14' Towneley Plays XXI and XXII. 

"8 Cady, op. cil. PMLA 24:441 and Mod. Phil. 10:589. 

■*9 These two scenes correspond to York plays XXX, XXXI, and perhaps XXXII. 

"0 Hohlfeld, op. cit. Anglia 11:297 called attention to these. 

1" Pollard, op. cit. 242, II. 424-25. 

»2 Loc. cit. 244, 11. 53-54. 

'53 Cady. op. cil. PMLA 24:441. 



100 MARIE C. LYLE 

trial scenes, namely, that the greater interest taken in the productions of 
the Wakefield author, in this case the two Shepherds' plays, caused the 
dropping of the Nativity. 

In certain cases, plays occurring in York but lacking in Towneley may 
be regarded as later insertions in the York cycle. Probably such plays 
as the Temptation, the Woman Taken in Adultery, and the Transfiguration 
were later additions. ^^* The extant records of the crafts responsible for 
Pilate's Wife's Dream, as well as the Temptation, point to the later incor- 
poration of these plays. ^^^ Undoubtedly, the Mary plays also represent a 
more extended separation and expansion at a late period in the development 
of the York cycle. ^^® 

Conclusion 

Thus, certain similarities, not occurring in the other English cycles, are 
found in all the corresponding plays of York and Towneley, save one, the 
Purification. Because of the practical identity of five plays and the greater 
part of the sixth, there can be no question about the possibility of an original 
identity. These plays, it should be noted, do not appear in a single group 
or section of the cycle, but are scattered throughout, one play appearing 
in each of the four cyclic groups, the Pharaoh in the Old Testament, the 
Doctors in the Nativity, the Bearing of the Cross in the Passion, and the 
Resurrection proper in the Resurrection group. The Harrowing of Hell 
forms the connecting link between two of the groups, and the Last Judg- 
ment serves as the conclusion for the entire cycle. These plays, escaping 
revision,^" indicate, we believe, the relation originally existing in the two 
cycles, while the remaining plays, undergoing revisions, retain only in 
slighter degrees, traces of the original identity. 

Development of the Towneley Cycle 

With slight modifications, the general theory concerning the probable 
development of the Towneley cycle^^® is in keeping with the theory of an 
original identity of York and Towneley. The three stages pointed out by 
Mr. PoUard^^^ become, according to our theory, two stages. The early 
religious group of plays and the so-called York "borrowings" represent, 
we believe, the parent-cycle stage, and the work of the Wakefield author 
independent revisions in the Towneley cycle. Instead of an independent 
Towneley cycle, then, which incorporated certain York plays, we have 
extant in Towneley a part of the parent cycle in Mr. Pollard's so-called 

J" See above, ch. IL p. 46. 

»w See below, ch. V, p. 107. 

168 See below, ch. V, p. 106. 

"' The revisions in these plays are very slight. 

"' Pollard, op. cit. intro. xxvii; Gayley, op. cit. 161 fi. 

"• Loc. cit. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 101 

first and second groups. So far as the development of the Towneley cycle 
is concerned, there is no real difference between these two groups of plays, 
save that the first group probably represents an earlier stage in the develop- 
ment of the parent cycle than does the second group. So far as the theory 
of an original identity of York and Towneley is concerned, the only dif- 
ference between these two groups of plays is that the plays in the first 
group either were, as we have seen, dropped from the York cycle or under- 
went revision there, while the plays in the second group remained practically 
unchanged. 

For our present purpose it is not necessary to determine the number of 
successive revisions through which the plays of the Towneley cycle passed, 
or the order in which these revisions occurred. It will be sufficient to refer 
to the evidence already presented which appears to indicate that the 
couplets and perhaps also some of the quatrains, are a survival of the 
parent-cycle stage. ^'^'^ On the other hand, the Wakefield author wrote 
after the separation of the two cycles. ^''^ 

160 See especially the situation in the Last Supper, above, p. 79 ff. 

161 See especially the situation in the Agony and Betrayal, above, p. 81 S. Accepting Mr. Pollard's 
three stages. Professor Cady, {op. cit. JEGP 10:573 ff. and Mod. Phil. 10:599) argues that since editorial 
couplets do not occur in connection with the group of "direct York borrowings," but do in the other two 
groups, that the York borrowings were the latest addition to the Towneley cycle. But later (pp. 576-78) 
he invalidates this argument when he admits that in one case editorial couplets do appear in connection 
with the "York borrowings." Mrs. Frank (op. cit. Mod. Phil. 15:181 ff.) shows the improbability of his 
theory. 



CHAPTER V 
THE PROBABLE DATE OF SEPARATION 

The theory of an original identity of the York and Towneley cycles 
naturally calls for some consideration of the probable date of their separa- 
tion. For this, we are dependent entirely upon the craft records of York 
during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, ^ since no records 
for the Towneley cycle are extant. 

On the basis of these records, Davies^ and Miss Smith^ conclude that the 
Corpus Christi plays had existed in York many years previous to the end 
of the fourteenth century. The records of this period show that each 
craft had its assigned pageant to which members contributed, and that 
there existed a certain number of stations before which the plays were 
given. Even at that early date, the cycle had attained some fame outside 
the city portals, for King Richard II graced them with his presence in 
1397. From the two Burton lists, ^ the Register, and other documents. 
Miss Smith draws certain conclusions regarding the relation between the 
crafts and the Corpus Christi plays. "As business grew," she says, "a new 
craft would spring up, an old one decay and become too poor to produce 
its play, a new one must take its share; one craft trenching on the trade 
of another must share its burdens, sometimes two, or even three plays 
would be combined into one, sometimes a play would be laid aside and 
the craft to which it had been assigned must join in producing some other. "^ 

The recent publication of the complete text of the York Memorandum 
Book^ makes it possible to gain more definite information concerning the 
actual conditions underlying the presentation of Corpus Christi plays 
under gild control. A detailed study of the rise of new crafts, of the decay 
of old ones, and of the combination of two or more, is a study of the rise 
and development of the Corpus Christi cycle. This is because each play 
was assigned to different crafts, which, from year to year, were responsible 
for the support and production of their respective pageants. In this way, 
plays came to be identified with certain gilds, and at least one case is re- 
corded in which the gild is known by the name of the play for which it was 

* Liher diversorum memorandortim Civilatem Ebor. tangenlium, beginning with 1376, has been published 
recently by Miss Maud Sellers for the Surtees Society, volumes 120 and 125, entitled the York Memorandum 
Book. Certain extracts from these records were previously published by Drake in his Eboracum, Davies 
in Municipal Records of the City of York, Miss Smith in her introduction to the York Mystery Plays, and 
Riley in the Historical Manuscript Reports Commission 1:109. 

2 Davies, ibid. app. 

' Miss Smith, ibid, intro. xix fif. 

* 1415 list printed by Miss Smith, ibid, intro. xix ff.; undated list by Davies, ibid. app. 233 ff. 
' Smith, ibid, intro. xix. 

« Ibid. 120 and 125, ed. by Miss Sellers. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 103 

responsible. The Carpenters' Gild which produced the Resurrection is 
referred to as ''the holy fraternite of the Resurrection."^ 

The earliest records point to a still earlier period for organization of 
the Corpus Christi cycle. A record of 1376 refers to the storage of Corpus 
Christi pageants.^ The places at which the performances were given are 
referred to in 1394 as antiquitus assignatis.^ In 1378, certain fines incurred 
by the Bakers were paid, half to the city chamber, half a la pagine des ditz 
Pestours de cor pore cristi}'^ A record of 1388 mentions a donation of a 
hundred shillings to be used for "furnishing four torches to be burnt in the 
procession on the feast of Corpus Christi. "^^ Other crafts, mentioned 
before the end of the fourteenth century in connection with the payment 
of certain sums towards the support of Corpus Christi pageants, are the 
Plasterers (1390),i2 the Cardmakers (1397?),i3 the Cordwainers (1393 ?),i* 
the Bowers (1395),!^ the Fletchers (1388?),i« the Lyttesters (1390-1400?),i7 
the Glasiers (or Verrours, 1394),i8 the Sadlers (1398), ^^ and the Tailors 
(1386).2o 

Just when the York gilds assumed control of the Corpus Christi cycle, 
we do not know. It is difficult to determine what was meant by "ancient" 
in the 1394 record, already referred to, but Miss Smith's conclusion that 
the cycle originated as early as 1340-50 may well be correct. The Cam- 
bridge reference of 1350 to Corpus Christi plays,^! as well as the Chester 

' Ibid. 125:intro. xxxviii. 

8 Ibid. 120:10. Two shillings were charged de uno lenemento, in quo tres pagine Corporis Christi po- 
nuniur, per annum. 

' Davies, ibid. app. 230. 
Smith, ibid, intro. xxxii. 

In 1399, the Verrours complained that the plays of Corpus Christi day were not performed as they 
should be, because they were given in too many places; it was therefore ordained that the numjjer of sta- 
tions should be limited to twelve. See Davies, ibid. app. 231; Smith, ibid, intro. xxxii; Sur. Soc. 120:50. 

'" Smith, ibid, intro. xxxi. 
Ibid. 120:169. Here, the record is undated. 

11 Davies, ibid. app. 230. 

i^Ibid. 120:115. 

i^ Ibid. 120:78-79. This date is determined by the dates of the enrollment of the members. Miss 
Sellers (op. cit. 78, n. 3) has identified from the freemen's list certain of the masters mentioned in the 
ordinance; the earliest of the dates of enrollment being possibly 1368, the latest 1397. 

^^ Ibid. 120:72-74. This date is determined by the dates of the enrollment of the masters. Miss 
Sellers (op. cit. 72, n. 5) identifies from the freemen's list 51 of the 59 masters: the earliest of the dates 
being 1356, the latest 1393. 

» Ibid. 120:52-54. 

'6 Ibid. 120:110. Isli constituciones composite fuerunt in die Lucie virginis anno xii (December 13, 
1388?) is written at the top of the right-hand corner, according to Miss Sellers (n. 6, p. 110). 

'■^ Ibid. 120:112. According to Miss Sellers (n. 2, p. 112), these enactments, judging from the 
dates of the enrollment on the freemen's list, "belong to the last decade of the fourteenth century." 

^^ Ibid. 120:50-52. Davies, op. ci.. app. 231-32 dates the ordinance concerning the stations at 
which Corpus Christi plays are given as 1394. 

^^Ibid. 120:90-1. 

^0 Ibid. 120:100. 

21 See Chambers, op. cit. 2:344; Hist. MSS. 14:8, 133; Arnold, Memorials of St. Edmund's Abbey (R.S.) 
3:361. 



104 MARIE C. LYLE 

tradition of 1328,-- point to the second quarter of the fourteenth century 
as the time in which the EngHsh cycles originated. 

During the seventeen years from 1415 to 1432, ordinances referring 
to Corpus Christi affairs are very numerous. It is easy to see that the 
success or the failure of a given play and, for that matter, its very existence 
as a part of the Corpus Christi cycle was largely dependent upon the 
financial status of the craft to which it had been assigned, or to the willing- 
ness of the craft to continue the play. 

(1) A record of 1431 presents a complaint of the Masons-^ in which they ask to be 
relieved of the necessity of producing any longer their play, known as Fergus, on the 
ground that its subject-matter was not contained in Holy Scripture, and that it gave 
rise to more laughter and noise than devotion. They, therefore, petitioned that they 
might be granted another play, one which should be in accordance with Holy 
Scripture and could be produced and played in daylight. At the same time, the 
Goldsmiths^^ appeared before the Council and on the plea that they had met with 
misfortune and "had become poorer than they were wont to be," begged to be given 
some assistance in the "grievous burden and enormous costs" entailed by the produc- 
tion of two pageants in the play of Corpus Christi. The council adjusted both mat- 
ters by allowing the Masons to drop their play, Fergus, and to assume charge of the 
Herod play, one of the two maintained by the Goldsmiths. In this manner, the loss 
of Fergus is to be explained. ^^ 

(2) In 1422, the Painters, Stainers, Pinners, and Latoners-^ suggested to the 
mayor and council that because of the excessive number of plays, it would be a dis- 
tinct gain if the two plays for which they were responsible could be shortened and 
combined into one. Since the subject-matter of the 5ne, the Nailing to the Cross, over- 
lapped that of the other, the Raising of the Cross, they thought that the material of 
both could very well be combined. It was thereupon decreed that the Painters and 
Stainers should be exempt from bringing forth a play, but should pay five shillings 
annually to the Pinners and Latoners, who would undertake to produce the consoli- 
dated play. In keeping with this order, the later amalgamated play was entered in 
the register, while the two earlier versions, like that of Fergus, were discarded and lost. 
This was a partial return to the original form now seen in Towneley XXIII, in which 
the Crucifixion, includes the Nailing to the Cross, the Raising of the Cross, the 
Crucifixion and the Death and Burial. 

(3) In 1417, the Salsemakers,-^ who were responsible for the production of the 
play of the Hanging of Judas, appeared before the mayor and Council and complained 
that if those who were encroaching upon their trade were not forced to contribute to 
the support of their pageant, according to ancient custom, they would no longer be 
able to produce it. Whereupon, it was ordained that each artificer of the city who was 
not a candlemaker but who sold Parisian candles [by retail], should annually contribute 

" See Chambers, op. oil. 2:348. 

'''Sur. Soc. 125:123-24; see also intro. xlix, 

" Loc. cit. 

=' Burton's 1415 list (Smith, ibid, intro. xxvii) describes the play thus: Qualuor Apostoli portantes 
feretrum Marie, et Fergus pendens super feretrum, cum ii aliis Judeis [cum vno Angela]. 
2« Sur. Soc. 125:102-4; see also intro. xix and xlvii. 
" Riley's report in Hist. MS. Com. 1:109. 

Smith, ibid, intro. xsiv. 

Sur. Soc. 120:155. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 105 

three pence. In 1422,-* however, the Salsemakers amalgamated their play with those 
of other crafts, resulting in the pageant known as the Condemnation of Jesus Christ. 
At this time the following pageants were united: the pageant of the Salsemakers, in 
which Judas hanged himself and crepuit medius, the pageant of the Tilemakers, in 
which Pilate condemned Jesus to death, the pageant of the Turnors, Hayresters, and 
Boilers, in which Jesus was bound to a pillar and scourged, and the pageant of the 
Millers, in which Pilate and other soldiers played at dice for the clothing of Jesus. 
Ten years later, the Salsemakers retired from active participation in the production 
of the pageant and paid, instead, five shillings to the Tilers.-' 

The play copied in the manuscript, ten, fifteen, or twenty years later,'" is a differ- 
ent one from that provided for in the 1422 order and again passed upon in the 1432 
Council. Since the play of the Condemnation, as recorded in the Register, contains 
neither the Hanging of Judas nor the Throwing of the Dice, it seems reasonable to 
infer that either the dissatisfaction felt by the Salsemakers and Millers, or the poverty 
under which they suffered, increased to such an extent that they refused or were unable 
to bear longer the expense of their respective portions of the pageant and that, there- 
fore, the parts for which they were responsible were thrown out. The cycle as we 
now possess it contains no incident connected with the Hanging of Judas. Nor can the 
few lines describing the Throwing of the Dice, the one scene occurring immediately after 
the arrival on Mount Calvary, and the other after the raising of the cross, be the original 
play offered by the Millers, for in the extant scenes the comic figure of Pilate plays 
no part. The description given him in the old York play seems rather to fit the 
Towneley play of the Talents, ubi Pilatus et alii milites ludebant ad talos pro vesti- 
mentis Jesu et pro eis sortes mittebant et ea parciebantur inter se.^^ The old York play 
may, indeed, be extant, in part at least in the Towneley cycle. 

(4) In 1419,32 ti^e Ironmongers, who, according to the 1415 Burton list, were 
responsible for the play of Mary Magdalene at the house of Simon the Leper, com- 
plained bitterly of their poverty-stricken condition. '^ Because their pageant had 
fallen into a ruinous condition, which necessitated an annual reparation, they found 
it difficult to meet the additional expenses, and therefore, pleaded that apprentices 
be forced to contribute to the support of the pageant. They continued to give the 
play as late as 1433 or 1434, because the play is included in the second Burton list. 
But since it was not entered in the Register, one may conclude that, a few years later, 
they found it impossible to continue its performance. 

Thus, if the records preceding the year 1415 were complete, it is pos- 
sible that certain plays absent in York, but included in the Towneley 
cycle, could be explained by the financial status of the crafts which were 
responsible for their production. Perhaps, the six Towneley plays, Isaac, 
Jacob, Prophetae, Octavian, Hanging of Judas, and Talents, were dropped 
from York because of the poverty of their respective crafts, or the unwill- 
ingness of the crafts to continue any longer the support of the pageants. 

28 Davies, op. cil. app. 235; Smith, op. cit. intro. xxv; Sur. Soc. 125:171. 

"-^ Sur. Soc. 125:173. 

5° Thought to be 1430-40. See Miss Smith, op. cit. intro. xv, xviii. 

" See 1415 list. Smith, op. cit. xxv. 

5= Through a mistake. Miss Sellers gives 1490 as the date of these ordinances. Since the ordinance, 
itself, bears the date anno Domini millesimo cccc nonodecimo, and advances the information that 
these orders were passed in the time of Thome Gare, maioris Ebor, who according to the Freemen's 
List (,Sur. Soc. 96) was mayor in 1419, there can be no doubt that the correct date of the ordinance is 1419. 

'3 The Ironmongers had always been a poor struggling gild, with only a few members, numbering in 
1342 but twelve, and even seventy-seven years later, at the time of the above mentioned complaint, its 
enrollment had been increased only by the addition of a single member. See Sur. Soc. 120:intro. xxxvii. 



106 MARIE C. LYLE 

The York cycle was not so fully developed at the end of the fourteenth 
century as it was m 1415, accordmg to the Burton list. The fact that the 
Drapers in 1403 contributed to the pageant of Pkaraoh in conjunction 
with the Hosiers,^* but in 1415 were in charge of the Death of Mar'/'" is an 
indication of the later elaboration and separation of the Mary plays. 
Although we possess no other records pointing to a less developed cycle 
at York than that described in the two Burton lists, 1415 to 1431, there 
is no reason to believe that the parent cycle, which probably belonged at 
York, was not actually developed, in part at least, from liturgical plays. 
The reference of 1255 to the Pastor es and Magi^^ may be taken as evidence 
for the existence, at that time, of a group of liturgical plays centering 
about the Nativity. 

Though no reference to the transitional development of the York 
cycle has as yet been found, probably it passed through the same stage 
as that represented by the Shrewsbury Fragments. Such an assumption 
is strengthened by the resemblances between the two cycles pointed out 
by Professor Skeat.^^ 

A stage in the development of cycles earlier than that of York or Towne- 
ley is seen in the true-Coventry plays. Apparently but a single step inter- 
venes between the stage represented by the Nativity group of the Coventry 
plays, in which individual incidents have already attained some elabora- 
tion within the limits of a single play, and the stage represented by the 
Towneley cycle, where the same incidents, receiving further amplification 
and adornment, have been made into separate plays and put in the charge 
of different gilds. This further growth was probably due to the develop- 
ment of the individual crafts and their demand for a share in the Corpus 
Christi productions.^^ 

8« Riley, Hist. MS. Report 1:109. 
Smith, ibid, intro. xx n. 3. 
Sur.Soc. 120:154. 
'5 See Burton list. Smith, op. cit. intro. 
56 Lincoln Statutes 2:98. 
Chambers, ibid. 2:399. 

Waterhouse, Non-English Cycle Plays EETSES 104: intro. xxv. 
Craig, ibid. Journ. Eng. and Cer. Phil. 13:9; Mod. Phil. 10:485. 
"Skeat, Acad. 1890. 

Waterhouse, ibid. EETSES 104:intro. xx. 
" The York craftsmen did not begin to form themselves into societies much before the beginning of 
the fourteenth or, at the earliest, the end of the thirteenth century. (See Stir. Soc. 120:xxiv and 125:xxviii.) 
The merchant gild of York was organized certainly as early as 1200 and was at first so strong and influential 
that it dominated the city council. The Weavers had obtained their incorporation even earlier. (See 
Sur. Soc. 120:xxvii.) The establishment shortly afterwards of the Tailors, Tapiters, and Lyttesters, all 
of which were large and influential gilds, gave to the cloth-making crafts a predominance which they 
never relinquished. The architectural development of the fifteenth century led to great activity in the 
building trades. The Glasiers, Carpenters, Tilers, and Plasterers appear many times in the council 
chamber for the ratification of their ordinances. (See Sur. Soc. 125: intro. xxviii.) By the end of the 
century, the metal-working gilds were also developed and differentiated — the Cutlers, Pinners, Gold- 
smiths, Girdlers, Founderers, Pewterers, etc. (See Sur. Soc. 120: intro. xxxiv.) It is very likely that 
the high development which the Corpus Christi cycle attained, at York, was due entirely to the increased 
demand created by newly formed gilds for individual plays. 



THE YORK AND TOWNELEY CYCLES 107 

Some intermediate stage, like that to be seen in the Towneley cycle, 
must have intervened between the stage represented by true-Coventry and 
that represented by York in 1415. In certain parts of the Towneley cycle, 
it is possible to see that stage of development, in which the earlier plays 
had already begun to break up, but had not yet reached the highly 
developed stage represented by the Burton lists. The incidents presented 
in the Towneley Creation group are elaborated into six distinct plays in 
York and the Towneley Passion group of four plays into eight plays in 
York. Single Towneley plays have been separated into two or three 
distinct pageants in York : the Towneley Conspiracy into three, the Towne- 
ley Scourging into two, the Towneley Crucifixion into two, the Towneley 
Resurrection into two, the Towneley Magi into two, and the Towneley 
Noah into two. It thus becomes evident that the Towneley cycle rep- 
resents that intermediate stage of development through which the York 
cycle must surely have passed before it reached its present highly de- 
veloped stage. 

Because of the incompleteness of the York records, we can do little 
more than suggest that the York cycle before 1400 did not include all of 
the extant plays. Two crafts, the Tapiters,^^ and the Smiths,'*" responsible 
for plays in 1415,^^ mention before this date only the Corpus Christi 
lights which they provide. If they had also possessed pageants at this 
time, it seems probable that they would have mentioned them in connection 
with the provisions for the lights, but their failure to do so may be taken 
as negative evidence that they did not. Because of the close identity of 
a given craft with a particular play, we may infer that before the end of 
the century the plays for which these crafts were later responsible, namely, 
Pilate's Wife's Dream and the Temptation, were not included in the York 
cycle. Since Towneley contains neither of these plays, the natural inference 
is that they did not form a part of the parent cycle. 

Two of the York crafts, the Plasterers^^ ^^d the Cardmakers,^^ responsible 
for two plays later revised in York,^^ the Creation to the Fifth Day and the 
Creation of Adam and Eve, mention payments for the support of their 
pageants as early as 1390 and 1397 respectively. Thus it is evident that 
the division into separate units of the Creation play, now extant in a 
single play in Towneley, had already begun in York by the year 1390. 
The separation of the York and Towneley cycles must, then, have occurred 
before this date. The work of the Wakefield writer, generally assigned to 

33Sur. Soc. 120:84-86. 
*o Ibid. 108-9. 

" Burton's List, Smith, op. cit. intro. xix f. 

*^Sur. Soc. 120:115. 

" Ibid. 78-79. 

" See above ch. IV, 70 £f. 



108 MARIE C. LYLE 

the first of the fifteenth century or the last of the fourteenth century/^ 
also points to the independent existence of the Towneley cycle at that 
time. Since he revised York material,^^ it seems safe to conclude that 
the separation of the York and Towneley C3^cles occurred before the end 
of the fourteenth centur}^ and according to the extant record of the York 
craft of the Plasterers, cited above, at least before the year 1390. 

*5 Sur. Soc. edition of the Towneley Mysteries intro. x. 
Pollard, ibid, intro. xxvi-xxvii. 

Hope Traver, Relation of Musical Terms in Woodkirk Shepherd's Plays to the Dates of Their Com- 
position Mod. Lang. Notes 20:1. 
*5 See above, ch. IV, p. 101. 



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Anz, Heinrich. Die lateinischen Magierspiele. Leipzig. 1905. 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 



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